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EVERYCHILD'S SERIES 



Camp and Trail in Early 
American History 



E VER YCHILtf'S S ERIES 
Each Cloth Illustrated 16mo 40 cents 



GREAT OPERA STORIES. For Intermediate Grades. 

By MiLLicENT S. Bender. 
HISTORICAL PLAYS FOR CHILDREN. For Intermediate Grades. 
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State Normal School, Plymouth, N. H. 
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By Florence V. Farmer, Vice-Principal Ridge Street School, 
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STORIES OF THE GOLDEN AGE. For Intermediate Grades. 

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INDIAN LEGENDS. ^^ For Intermediate Grades. 

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CAMP AND TRAIL IN EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY- 

For Intermediate Grades. 
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By Marguerite Stockman Dickson, author of "American History 
for Grammar Grades." 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

64-66 Fifth Avenue, New York 

Chicago Boston San Francisco Atlanta Dallas 



EVERYCHILD'S SERIES 

Camp and Trail in Early 
American History 

Being Stones of Treasure Seekers, Home 

Makers, Empire Builders, Indian 

Fighters, and Liberty Seekers 

in the New World 



By 
Marguerite Stockman Dickson 

Author of ' * American History for 
Grammar Schools '* 



Illustrated by A, P. Linson 

KeiD gorft 

The Macmillan Company 
1915 

All Tights reserved 



e/2? 



.ID 6 6% 



Copyright, 1915, 
By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published February, 191 5. 



J. 8. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



FEB 1 1 1915 

©aA3!)S604 



MY LITTLE FRIENDS IN THE HISTORIC CITY 
OF PHILADELPHIA 

MARGARET AND ELEANOR 
LEITCH 



PREFACE 

History stories, for either home or school 
use, may serve a double purpose. They may 
be for children who have not yet begun to 
study history a spur to interest in the past; 
or they may furnish detail for the older chil- 
dren whose textbooks of necessity are lacking 
in this respect. 

The stories in this book have been selected 
as types of movements in early American his- 
tory. The attempt has not been made to 
give the children many facts, nor to teach the 
facts that are presented. Rather are we pre- 
senting a series of pictures, as a sort of his- 
torical background upon which later historical 
personages may figure. 

Let the children read each story as a story 
merely to be enjoyed but not worked over. 
Let them admire our heroes, not especially as 
historical personages, but as men. 

Charlotte, North Carolina, 
December, 1914. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The First Americans i 

The Fair God of Mexico 19 

In Quest of Eternal Youth . . » . . 36 

An English Sea King 50 

The " City of Raleigh " at Roanoke ... 69 

A Valley Town in Old New England ... 86 

A Story of New France no 

Peter the Headstrong 129 

Seeds of Liberty 149 



Camp and Trail in Early 
American History 

THE FIRST AMERICANS 

Long ago, on a bright afternoon In the late 
autumn, two boys played near the bank of a 
softly murmuring brook in the gayly colored 
forest. The golden sunlight cast its flicker- 
ing shadows down through the leaves. A 
chill in the air told of coming frost and snow. 

The boys were slender and straight, and 
their eyes were bright and keen. They were 
shooting at a target with bow and arrow. 

Twang ! went an arrow to the very heart 
of the target. "^ I would it were the red deer ! " 
called Red Cloud proudly. "I shall be a 
mighty hunter." 

''And I shall go on the warpath against the 
Iroquois," answered his friend, Eagle's Wing. 



CAMP AND VrAIL 



''Hark! I hear 
the men return- 
ing from the 
chase." And 
with this they 
started at a brisk 
pace toward the 
wigwams in the 
distance beyond 
the tree trunks. 




THE FIRST AMERICANS 3 

As you have already guessed, these were 
Indian boys, living the wild free life that the 
red men lived in the early days. The people 
of Europe knew nothing of these red-skinned 
Americans, and they, on the other hand, had 
no knowledge of the fair-haired people across 
the sea. 

There was excitement enough in the Ind- 
ian village when the boys reached it. The 
hunters had indeed returned, laden with heavy 
burdens of game. The squaws were already 
caring for the skins and cooking great pieces 
of juicy meat at the open-air fires. The 
warriors rested, lounging near the campfires, 
and exchanging stories of their days in the 
woods. The children ran about, eager to 
see the game, to hear the stories, and longing 
for the days when they too might go a-hunting. 

That night the braves gathered for a great 
feast. The hunting season was at its height. 
Great stores of dried meat and fish were being 
made ready for the winter. All were joyous, 
and they feasted merrily. 



4 CAMP AND .TRAIL 

Long the painted, feather-decked warriors 
lingered over the roasted venison and wild 
turkey. But at length, when they had eaten 




" The whole village drew near a great campfire, around which the 
warriors sat in a circle, smoking, and telling stories." 

their fill, the whole village drew near a great 
campfire, around which the warriors sat in a 
circle, smoking, and telling stories. They told 
wonderful tales of great spirits, of charms and 
magic. 



THE FIRST AMERICANS 5 

The children listened eagerly. Red Cloud 
and Eagle's Wing pressed close to the circle, 
longing, always longing for the day when they 
should join the warriors around the campfire, 
in the chase, and on the warpath. 

Hark ! an old man had just begun his 
story. 

''I shall tell you, my children," said the 
old man slowly, looking around the great 
circle, "the story of the magic firebird, which 
brought to man the fire which is our greatest 
comfort, in the wigwam, and here where we 
gather at the close of the day. 

''Long ago, as you must know, men lived 
without fire. Then they were often cold 
in the bitter winds of winter. Then they 
had no cooked food, as we have to-day. 
But, knowing nothing of what fire could 
do for them, they lived content. 

''One day a strange and beautiful bird 
was seen hovering over a village. All came 
out from the wigwams to see the wonderful 



6 CAMP AND TRAIL 

creature. It drew nearer and nearer. At 
last it spoke: 'I have come from a beautiful 
country far, far away,' it said, 'bringing you 
a gift. The strange brightness you see about 
my tail is fire. With it you can do many 
wonderful things.' 

"The people started forward. 'Wait, my 
children,' said the bird softly. 'Only a good 
man or woman can pluck the fire from my 
tail. The gift was not meant for the un- 
kind or the selfish.' 

"The people stood silent for a moment, 
but soon a sturdy warrior stepped forward 
with a bit of wood, that he might light it 
at the fire flashing about the bird's tail. 
The fire scorched his hand, and he drew back. 

"'You think only of yourself,' said the 
bird sadly. 'The fire is not for you.' 

"Another man reached out, but he too 
was scorched, and fell back. 'You cheat 
your neighbor,' said the bird. 'It is not 
for you.' And another and another tried, 
but no one could secure the gift. The people 



THE FIRST AMERICANS 7 

were sad, and the bird was sad too. 'Must 
I carry away my gift?' it said. 'Is there 
no one in your village who is good and true ? ' 

"Just then a woman called softly from a 
nearby wigwam. 'Oh, beautiful bird, I can- 
not come to try for the gift. A sick child 
is here. I cannot leave him. But if he 
might have the fire near him, perhaps it 
would make him well.' 

"'What have you done that is great and 
good, that you should ask for the gift ? ' 
said the bird. 'I have done nothing but 
my duty, I know,' answered the woman, 
'so I do not ask it for myself. But the 
child, O beautiful firebird ! He needs it. 
Will you not give it to him .? ' 

"'Here,' said the bird joyfully, 'here at 
last I have found an unselfish person. Take 
it, good woman ! The fire is yours.' And 
she flew near while the woman lighted her 
bit of wood. And so it was that fire came 
to men." 

There was great applause when the aged 



8 CAMP AND TRAIL 

story teller finished his tale; and other 
stories followed from this one and that one 
about the campfire. Then came the beat 
of drum and rattle calling to the dance. 
Stepping lightly, the dancers moved softly 
and slowly in and out among the trees. 
Then the steps grew faster. The dancers 
whirled and spun, they leaped, they ran. 
Wider grew the circle and wider. Faster 
leaped the dancers and faster, until at last 
they dropped back breathless into their 
places by the fire. And around the circle 
arose the clamor of laughter and applause. 

Next day the warriors remained quietly 
in the village, chipping stones into shape 
for arrowheads, mending and making 
weapons, or lying about lazily smoking, 
with many jokes and much laughter. You 
may be sure Red Cloud and Eagle's Wing 
were not far away. They chipped away 
gravely at flints for their own arrow heads, 
watching, listening, and overjoyed when one 
of the warriors chanced to notice them. 



THE FIRST AMERICANS 9 

Red Cloud's father was "sachem" or chief 
of his tribe, and Red Cloud hoped some 
day to be sachem in his father's place. But 
he knew that he must be brave and strong, 
cunning and tireless, to be chief after the 
great Spotted Feather, his father. So he 
welcomed every chance to listen even to 
the jokes and careless chatter of the braves. 
Some day he would be like them — like his 
father. There was no one like his father, 
Red Cloud thought. 

Now Red Cloud was nearly old enough 
to begin to do a man's work, for Indian 
boys put away their play when they were 
still young boys, and were men doing a 
man's work at an age when our boys are 
still in the schoolroom. So his father now 
sometimes took him on hunting trips, or 
taught him how to spear fish in the rivers, or 
trap turkeys in the forest. He was learning, 
learning, every day. So was his friend, Eagle's 
Wing. And the two walked more proudly as 
they thought of the swiftly coming days. 



lo CAMP AND TRAIL 

When the biting winds of winter came, 
the wigwams of the village were moved 
from the open country by the river to the 
most sheltered spot the tribe could find back 
in some wooded valley. Here the short 
winter days were passed, the families hud- 
dling around the fires in the wigwams, living 
on their dried and smoked meats and fish, 
and the squashes and beans and corn the 
women had planted and harvested in the 
summer time. 

Spring seemed long in coming, but it did 
come at last, and the hunters went joyfully 
forth in quest of fresh food, while the women 
planted and tended the little garden patches. 

It was still early in the spring time when 
there came trouble between Spotted 
Feather's tribe and a neighboring one. 
There was often war between them, for 
both desired the same hunting ground. 
Spotted Feather grew silent and watchful. 
He was absent in the forest days at a time, 
and once he came back thin and pale from 



THE FIRST AMERICANS 



II 




fasting while he had prayed 
to the great spirit for vic- 
tory in the coming fight. 
His warriors silently made 
ready, and one day there 
came to the village other 
friendly warriors to help 
Spotted Feather's braves. 

At evening they all gath- 
ered in a great silent circle 
about the campfire. Oh ! 
that was a wonderful sight 
to Red Cloud and his boy 
friends. The warriors were 
painted, — red and bright 
blue, black, and white. They wore their 



12 CAMP AND TRAIL 

finest ornaments of feathers, bone, and copper, 
with strings and belts of wampum beads. 
High crests of feathers showed which were 
the chiefs. Spotted Feather wore a brilliantly 
colored feather mantle. From his belt hung 
many scalp locks, the scalps of enemies he had 
killed in battle. 

Silently the boys brought food to these 
wonderful warriors, and silently the warriors 
ate. Then they lighted their pipes, and still 
silent, smoked and smoked. At last Spotted 
Feather broke the silence. Looking slowly 
around the great circle, first at his own 
braves, and then at his guests and allies, he 
spoke. 

He told them of the many many insults 
they had borne from their long hated foe. 
He called upon them now to avenge the 
wrongs they had sufi'ered. The warriors lis- 
tened gravely, but when the sachem paused 
a great shout arose. They would follow 
Spotted Feather on the warpath that very 
night. 



THE FIRST AMERICANS 13 

Then they scattered, some to pile high 
the already blazing fire until the flames 
leaped toward the treetops ; some to set 
up a great post or pole for the center of the 
dance. Squaws and boys brought forth the 
drums. The dance began. Round and 
round went the shouting warriors, whirling, 
leaping, wild with the war spirit. Some- 
times the dance would stop while one chief 
or another, striking the post for silence, 
would tell from the center of the circle of 
his own and his fathers' brave deeds. Then 
with redoubled tumult the mad whirling 
dance would go on. 

All night the red flames of the campfire 
lighted up the strange scene. But when 
the first light of the dawn streaked the east- 
ern sky, the warriors grew silent once more. 
The gorgeous ornaments were laid aside. 
The last preparations were made; and the 
warriors, hideously painted and with bow and 
tomahawk ready, stole silently away in a 
long line into the deep forest. 



14 CAMP AND TRAIL 

Red Cloud and Eagle's Wing watched 
them go, scarcely knowing whether to be 
glad or sorry that they might not yet share 
in the awful work of killing and scalping 
the foe. 

Days of anxious waiting followed, in which 
the old men, the women, and the boys and 
girls went about their usual tasks, but with 
strange feelings, of pride in their warriors 
mingled with fears lest they be conquered 
and return no more. And then one evening, 
just at dusk, they came. Hearts beat fast 
as the procession wound its way into the 
village. Red Cloud looked anxiously at the 
painted warriors. Yes, his father was there, 
with bloody scalps hanging from his belt. 
And there were many captives. 

That night again there was feasting in 
the village — feasting, and smoking, and the 
dance of victory ! During the feasting and 
the dance, the captives stood proud and 
silent, tied to near-by tree trunks. They too 
had been conquerors, and had gloried in 



THE FIRST AMERICANS 15 

the downfall of their enemies. Now it was 
their pride to show no fear, no flinching. 

The time of torture came. They must 
"run the gantlet/' — a long, double line 
of the old men, women, and children of the 
village, armed with any sort of club they 
could seize. Through the lane they formed 
the captives were driven, with blows raining 
on them from every side. But not a mur- 
mur from the captives, though it was double 
shame to be beaten by the weak ones of the 
enemy. 

But worse was coming. Tied once more, 
fires were kindled around them, and while 
the flames tortured their limbs, they were 
beaten, pinched, or shot with arrows, mak- 
ing every dying breath a torment and a 
pain. Yet they could sing a death song as 
they died, — bravely, as they had lived. 

Red Cloud had borne his part in all this. 
He had served the warriors at the feast, 
drummed for the dance, had even shot ar- 
rows at the dying prisoners as they burned. 



i6 CAMP AND*TRAIL 

The last had made him shrink a little. But 
he knew that warriors must not shrink at 
such work. And after the first three or four, 
the dying men seemed only as targets to 
the boy. 

And so life went on in the Indian village. 
We must not think of it as always filled 
with war and fighting. There were many 
*' moons" when the red men lived at peace. 
They made arrows and with them hunted 
the wild things of the forest. They built 
their bark canoes and in them fished from 
river and lake. They told the old stories of 
the fathers, and they taught the growing boys 
and girls the lessons of life they must learn. 

I might tell you how Red Cloud one day 
came to be sachem in his father's place. 
But I could tell you nothing new or different 
about the life in Red Cloud's day. For 
long, long years the red men lived as their 
forefathers had lived before them, — a life 
as wild and free as the beasts lived in the 
forests. 



THE FIRST AMERICANS 



17 




1 8 CAMP AND •TRAIL 

And so they lived when the white men 
came and found them in the woods and on 
the plains of the New World. But when 
that day came, a new story begins, — the 
white man's story. We must hear that 
another day. 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 



19 




The name si^ns 
on back (^ 
^,^ heads. 

Chief OC£LOTL 
(fAr/lOYAUANCAN 
j/tt/'pp on a 
hi^h backed 
•sf raw-woven 
seat 






ATMOYAUAf/C 
yvhere water moves 
in a circle " 




OF THE TIME or 
i^OTECl/HZim^h 



PICTI/RE WRITING 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 



Far to the south of the forests where Red 
Cloud's people had their homes, lay the beau- 
tiful land of Mexico. There in a high valley 
circled by snow-capped mountains, sparkled 
the waters of Tezcoco Lake. And on a group 
of islands in this lake had been built a city. 
Strangest of all, it was an Indian city, and a 
more beautiful place has seldom been seen. 

The Aztec Indians knew many things of 



20 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

which northern Indians were ignorant. They 
built houses and roads and bridges. Their 
weavers made delicate and beautiful fabrics 
from cotton. Their gold and silver smiths 
produced exquisite ornaments. Other 
workers made wonderful garments of the 
finest feather work, and still others cut and 
polished precious stones. In their city were 
palaces and temples, hospitals, and a huge 
market place. Their houses were built about 
green flower-decked courtyards, and their 
lake city was crossed by well-built canals, 
which served, as in Venice, for streets. 

All these things sound like one of our cities 
to-day. And yet, in many ways the Aztecs 
were far from being like our city dwellers. 
They had no written language save picture 
writing. Their soldiers fought with bow and 
arrow, or with strange clubs set with razor- 
like blades of sharp stone. Their only lights 
were fires or torches. And especially in 
their religion were these Mexican Indians un- 
like civilized people to-day. For the inhabit- 




THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 21 

ants of this beautiful city killed men or even 
children as offerings to their gods. And worse 
than that, they cooked and ate the 
flesh of their victims. 

The story I have to tell you is 
about the lake city of the Aztecs, and 
the sad end of the Aztec kingdom. 

We can scarcely imagine the won- 
der among the people of Europe 
when Spanish ships sailed across the ^'Sea of 
Darkness" and found beautiful islands and 
strange copper-colored men. The 
old fear of the ocean began to dis- 
appear, and many Spanish gentle- 
men, young and old, set out to the 
new lands to seek their fortunes. 

And so it happened that about 
twelve years after the discovery, 
young Fernando Cortes landed in the Spanish 
colony of Hispaniola. He was a gay young 
adventurer, who looked eagerly for a chance 
to find the treasure he had come to seek. 
And at last that chance came. A ship sent 




22 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

out from Cuba, where Cortes was then living, 
returned with stories of great cities, a mighty 
king, and untold treasure, not far away to the 
westward ; and Cortes, at this time thirty- 
four years old, was chosen to lead an expedi- 
tion to find out more about these things. 

With eleven vessels, several hundred 
soldiers, cannon, and a few horses, Cortes 
set out. He was to trade Spanish beads 
and trinkets for Indian gold, and he set 
about the task with a joyful heart. 

Scarcely had the adventurers landed upon 
the mainland, when they began to hear of 
the great monarch whose fame and reputed 
wealth had brought them to that shore. 
And indeed, with equal promptness, Mon- 
tezuma, the Aztec king or war chief, heard 
of the fair-skinned strangers who had landed 
on the eastern shore of his dominion. 

This news, brought to Montezuma by 
swift runners from the coast, filled the chief 
with wonder and doubt. The Aztecs knew 
no fair-skinned nations, but they had long 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 23 

ago worshipped a fair god. There were 
many stories of this god, who had once 
dwelt among the people in the lake city. 
But the Aztecs had displeased him, and he 
had gone away. The stories told how he had 
embarked from the eastern shore of the 
country on a raft of serpents' skins, and had 
drifted out of sight. But the fair god would 
some day return, the stories said, — would 
return to take back his kingdom, and to 
punish the people who had done him wrong. 

And now, on that very eastern shore, 
strange tower-like ships with wings had landed 
white-skinned strangers, clad in shining gar- 
ments, and with commanding, even god- 
like voices and ways. What wonder that 
Montezuma's heart was troubled, and he 
knew not what to do ! 

Sadly he called his counsellors about him, 
and the wise men from far-off places in his 
kingdom. They could tell him nothing. 
Some of his chiefs said boldly, '^ These are 
no gods, but only men. Let us hasten to 



24 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

destroy them." And Montezuma was for 
a moment half persuaded they were right. 
But no ! who ever heard of white-faced men ? 
It was the fair god, returning with his train. 
And could men hope to fight against gods ? 
So Montezuma wavered. 

Meanwhile Cortes was advancing, and he 
must be met, either as friend or foe. Monte- 
zuma tried the plan of sending rich gifts 
to the strangers, but with messages desiring 
them to come no nearer to the city. Cortes 
accepted graciously the golden ornaments 
and the gorgeous mantles Montezuma had 
sent, but politely begged the privilege of 
visiting the city on the lake. Montezuma 
returned a polite intimation that it would 
be impossible to receive him there. Cortes 
pressed the question again, only to be for- 
bidden to advance by the now distracted 
king, who saw no hope for his kingdom if 
the strangers could not be held back. 

Cortes, however, paid no attention to 
Montezuma's message. He was getting 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 25 

acquainted with the Indians near his camp, 
and was learning every day that not all of 
Montezuma's subjects loved their chief. 
More than thirty tribes paid tribute to the 
Aztecs, and many of these tribes hated as well 
as feared their masters. Cortes made friends 
with these dissatisfied tribes, making himself 
strong for the conquest he meant to undertake. 

He founded a settlement on the coast, 
and when some of his followers demanded 
that he abandon his plans for conquest and 
return to Cuba, Cortes settled the question 
by destroying the ships, after which nothing 
was left but to remain. Then he called 
upon his men to follow him, "for the glory of 
God, and the honor of Spain," and so persua- 
sive were his words that all forgot their 
discontent, and wildly shouted, "To Mexico ! 
to Mexico!" 

The march lay first across the tropical 
plain, where feathery palms waved above 
brightly glowing flowers ; then up the slope 
of the mountains which shut off the high 



26 CAMP AND TRAIL 

valley from the sea. Palms changed to 
oaks, and oaks to pines, while far above 
towered the snowy iire-crowned peak of 
Orizaba. Higher and still higher they went, 
through a wild, rough, frozen country, and 
then down through a mountain pass into a 
wide green valley with corn fields and gar- 
dens. 

The march led sometimes through friendly 
territory, and sometimes the way was blocked 
by fighting warriors. The Spaniards fought 
fiercely against the Tlascalans in their walled 
stronghold. These were enemies of the 
Aztecs, with whom they had held many 
fierce battles. Now they fought with all 
their might against the Spaniards. Bravely 
they rushed against their armored foe, and 
even the roaring cannon did not daunt, them. 
On and on they came in hordes. But at 
last they wavered and terror seized them, 
when the fifteen horsemen of Cortes charged 
down upon them. What strange two-headed 
monsters were these ? Surely these must 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 27 

be gods ! And with their wavering, the 
Spaniards rushed in and won the day. 

Once conquered, the Tlascalans made 
friends with Cortes, and many of their war- 
riors joined him in his march toward Monte- 
zuma's city. At last he was within sight of 
the lake and the white towers of the town. 
All the requests of Montezuma had been of 
no use. And the unhappy chief went out to 
meet his unwelcome guest. 

The city could be reached only by three 
causeways or raised roads across the waters 
of the lake. Along one of these roads came 
the Spaniards in fine array, while Montezuma 
and his nobles came to the outskirts of the 
city to meet them. Very careful was the 
Aztec war chief to do honor to the fair 
stranger. He hated him, but he feared him 
also. So Cortes and his men were comfort- 
ably housed, well fed, and gifts were showered 
upon them. 

When Cortes desired to visit the market- 
place and the great temple, Montezuma 



28 CAMP AND •TRAIL 

courteously agreed. In the market-place 
Cortes found much of interest, but the sights 
of the temple filled him with horror. The 
great pyramid was built in terraces, with 
many steps, so arranged that after ascend- 
ing from one terrace to the next priests and 
worshippers must go all the way about the 
building before reaching the next flight. 
Nearly a mile must be traversed to reach the 
topmost platform. There stood a great block 
of jasper, — the stone of sacrifice, — dripping 
with human blood. Near by were the altars 
and the idols — great grinning stone figures, 
the god of evil and the god of war. From 
their lips also dripped blood, and before them 
on golden trays lay the sacrifice. Truly it 
was an awful sight, and we cannot wonder 
that Cortes longed to throw down the idols 
and cleanse the dreadful place. But he 
knew the time was not come. 

The days passed, and Montezuma still 
watched, and wondered, and doubted. Gods 
or men ^ And while he wondered, Cortes 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 29 

was planning, plotting how he should secure 
the safety of his men, surrounded as they 
were by thousands of Indians who might any 
day turn against them ; how he should gain 
and profit by the friendship of the discon- 
tented ones in Montezuma's territory ; and 
most of all how he should obtain possession 
of Montezuma's treasure and destroy his 
power. 

The plan which Cortes finally decided 
upon was a bold one. We almost wonder 
that even Cortes should have dared such a 
thing. It was no less than to take Mon- 
tezuma prisoner. It seems impossible that 
he should have succeeded in this, with thou- 
sands of Aztec warriors without the walls 
of Montezuma's palace. But A4ontezuma, 
once brave and warlike, had watched and 
wondered and doubted too long. He no 
longer possessed the will to resist. His proud 
spirit was broken. So when Cortes de- 
manded, Montezuma went, and more than 
that, rebuked his impatient warriors who 



30 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

would have beaten down the Spaniards and 
rescued their chief. 

The more the Aztec people saw of the 
Spaniards, the less they believed them to be 
gods ; and when they saw their king im- 
prisoned they longed to destroy the strangers 
and restore him to his throne. But they 
might not make war except by the chiefs 
command. That was the Aztec law. And 
Montezuma would not order them to fight. 
The warriors were filled with wonder at the 
chiefs strange silence. They knew not what 
to do. But they obeyed the law. 

All winter Montezuma remained with the 
Spaniards, and his people waited for him to 
speak. Then Cortes was called suddenly 
back to his little settlement at Vera Cruz. 
And while he was gone, Alvarado, his lieu- 
tenant, brought trouble upon himself and 
the hundred and fifty men Cortes had left 
with him. The Aztecs were celebrating their 
great spring festival when Alvarado ordered 
an attack upon them, and many were killed. 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 31 

The Aztecs were wild with rage, arid when 
Cortes hastily returned with the remainder 
of his men he found Alvarado and his soldiers 
besieged in their palace, the great market 
closed, the streets empty, and only sullen 
angry looks were turned upon him by the 
few Indians he saw. 

Montezuma sat sad and silent, as he always 
sat now. Cortes demanded that the chief order 
the market-place to open. "You forget I am 
a prisoner," returned the chief. "If you wish 
the market opened and the people quieted, 
you must send a chief of my household to 
them. And I and all my chiefs are here." 

Cortes then sent Montezuma's brother out 
to the people. That was a great mistake for 
Cortes to make. For the chiefs brother called 
together the council, they made him chief in 
Montezuma's stead, and next morning a howl- 
ing, raging horde of warriors surrounded the 
Spanish quarters, pouring down arrows and 
stones from neighboring roofs into the court- 
yard. At last the battle was begun ! 



32 



CAMP AND* TRAIL 




For six days it raged. 
Once Cortes caused Monte- 
zuma to ascend to the roof 
and to order his people to 
cease the fight. But they would not listen 
to him. They hooted and jeered and called 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 33 

him coward. They even threw stones at him, 
before whom once they had bowed to the 
very dust. He bowed his head before them. 
His shame was complete. A stone struck 
him, and he fell. The battle raged on. 

The great temple was the scene of terrible 
fighting. Cortes with three hundred picked 
men and many Tlascalan warriors fought 
his way up the stairways, around the terraces, 
the whole long distance to the top, where 
for three hours Spaniard and Aztec struggled 
for the victory. And when at last victory 
lay with the Spaniards, five hundred Aztecs 
had given their lives for their war god, and 
not an Indian warrior was left there alive. 

And still day after day the fighting went on. 
Cortes knew that he must get his men out 
of the city if their lives were to be saved. 
So on the sixth night he made an attempt 
to get away, under cover of the darkness. 
But the flight was discovered, and every 
inch of the way over the long causeway was 
furiously fought. Horses, cannon, baggage, 



34 CAMP ANET TRAIL 

treasure, were all left behind. The dawn 
following this "Sorrowful Night" found only 
a sad and broken few, at sight of whom even 
the iron-hearted Cortes could but weep. 

It would seem that now Cortes must have 
given up all thought of conquering the lake 
city. But no ! retreating to Tlascala, he 
rested, and then with all his old determina- 
tion began anew his conquest of Mexico. 
Montezuma was dead, but Montezuma's 
country should be his. Another spring saw 
him return to the attack, with thousands of 
Indian allies, with newly arrived Spanish 
soldiers, cannon, and horses. 

Once more day after day the battle raged. 
As always in their fighting, the Aztecs tried 
to capture the Spaniards alive, that they 
might sacrifice them to their terrible gods. 
And the Spaniards fought harder as they 
thought of the awful processions winding 
around the lofty pyramid with white-faced 
victims led to the dreadful stone above. 

For months the fight went on, but at last 



THE FAIR GOD OF MEXICO 35 

the proud Aztecs were humbled. Many, 
many were dead. The city lay in ruins. 
Cortes was the conqueror. Mexico became 
a Spanish town. The terrible temples were 
torn down, and Christian churches took their 
place. This was better for Mexico, better 
for the world. And yet, we cannot forget 
the sad figure of Montezuma, conquered 
by the *^fair god" that he saw in his dreams. 



36 



CAMP ANl5 TRAIL 




IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 



Away to the east of the mainland of North 
America lie the islands to which Columbus 
first led the ships of Spain. Here the Span- 
iards had begun their search for gold, and the 
harsh and cruel treatment of the Indians 
for which Spanish conquerors in the New 
World have been justly infamous. 

The beautiful islands, with their warm 
and delightful climate, their tropical fruits, 
and their cool sea breezes, had long been the 
homes of gentle and trustful natives, who 
gladly welcomed the strange men in the 
white-winged ships. But the Spaniards did 



IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 37 

not long deserve this trust. Greed for gold 
seems to have killed all kindness from their 
hearts, and they made miserable slaves of 
the once happy, care-free natives. Cruel 
Spanish governors were placed over them, 
who drove them to dig in the mines, where 
their unaccustomed and unceasing toil soon 
brought them to final rest in death. Thou- 
sands of lives were thus wasted in the treasure 
search. 

The larger islands, Cuba and Haiti, were 
the first scenes of Spanish conquest. Ovando, 
an early governor of Haiti, is called "a, 
human monster" for his cruel deeds. The 
Indians of eastern Haiti were aroused by the 
treatment accorded to their neighbors, and 
when they in turn came under the cruel rule 
of the Spaniards, resisted their oppressions. 
A long and bloody campaign followed before 
these Indians were subdued. Among the 
Spaniards who fought here was Ponce de 
Leon, a companion of Columbus on his 
second voyage and a veteran soldier. When 



38 



CAMP ANI> TRAIL 



the conquest ^" 
was complete, Ponce 
de Leon was left by 
Ovando to govern 
the unhappy red 
men. 

But in these days 
of adventure and 
treasure seeking, 
''the lion"— for 
that is the mean- 
ing of de Leon's 
name — chafed at 
the dull life he was 
now leading. He 




stood on the headlands 
of Santo Domingo, and 
looked eastward toward 
the misty blue moun- 
tains dimly seen against 



IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 39 

the bluer sky. He longed to feel the roll 
of waves against a good ship's timbers, and 
the whistle of the wind through sail and 
shroud. 

He remembered those misty mountains, 
on the outward voyage from Spain. Colum- 
bus had stopped beneath their shadow to find 
water for his ships. Ponce de Leon could 
well recall the beauty of the harbor, with 
green-clad mountains rising in the back- 
ground and gorgeous plants and flowers 
nearer shore. "Puerto Rico," Columbus had 
named it, — ''the rich port." 

When Indians came across in their dugout 
canoes from Puerto Rico, de Leon eagerly 
questioned them about their country. The 
unsuspecting natives, little dreaming of the 
sad fate in store for them and their tribes, 
told of gold in the mountains and in the beds 
of streams. 

It was enough. Ponce de Leon must 
seek these golden shores. Ovando's consent 
gained, the short voyage of ninety miles was 



40 CAMP ANl5 TRAIL 

soon accomplished, and de Leon stood again, 
after sixteen years, at Aguadilla, the '^water- 
ing place" of ColumjDus's ships. Nothing 
was changed. The same forest-clad moun- 
tains stood like cool green walls, back from 
the shore. There were the same beautiful 
trees and flowers, the same Indian village, 
whose hospitable people received the Span- 
iards with kindly greetings. 

In Puerto Rico was enacted again the sad 
story of greed and cruelty, of treachery and 
war. A Spanish city was founded on the 
north shore of the island, mountains and 
river beds were searched for gold, and great 
bands of Indians were set to working the newly 
dug mines. At first the Indians believed, as 
the Aztecs had believed, that the Spaniards 
were immortal, and that it was useless to 
resist. But a shrewd chief resolved to learn 
whether a Spaniard could not suffer death. 
He ordered two of his followers to seize a 
Spaniard as they were crossing a river to- 
gether, and to hold the suspected immortal 



IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 41 

under water for a while. Then bearing the 
Spaniard's body, now limp and unresisting, 
to the bank, they sat down beside it, watching 
until they could not longer doubt the man was 
dead. 

The news spread like wildfire, and a great 
band of outraged Indians gathered to attack 
the Spanish town. The Spaniards, however, 
in steel armor, and with their death-dealing 
guns, won an easy victory, and some of the 
Indians fled to the mountains, while the rest 
sadly bowed to their fate as slaves. 

Ponce de Leon was now governor of Puerto 
Rico, and he settled down as he had done in 
Santo Domingo, to the tasks of his oflice. He 
built the city of San Juan on a small coral 
island close in shore. This became the seat 
of government, and here was built Ponce de 
Leon's "White Castle" (Casa Blanca), stand- 
ing high to overlook the sea. 

The governor was no longer young. He 
could look back over an eventful life, in which 
he had valiantly borne his part. He had seen 



42 CAMP AND TRAIL 

strange sights too in these beautiful islands, 
where he had lived now for nearly twenty 
years. He had heard strange stories from the 
red-skinned natives of other wonders which 
he had not seen. 

I have no doubt that sometimes he wished 
he were no longer passing middle age, but 
were young again, as when he fought the 
Moors at Granada in old Spain, before he had 
set out with Columbus to cross the great 
ocean in quest of fame and gold. 

Sometimes as he paced the garden of Casa 
Blanca, he gazed out upon the changing waters 
of the sea, and longed for new adventures on 
the rolling deep. There were islands to the 
northwest. Should he explore them ? He 
remembered the story he had heard of an 
island from whose earth gushed the fountain 
of eternal youth. He who should drink of its 
sparkling waters would feel the strength of 
youth in his veins, and if he should bathe in 
the stream flowing from the fountain he 
would remain young, and live forever. 



IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 43 

Ponce de Leon thought oftener as the days 
went by of the magic fountain. At last he 
resolved to seek it. Why not 1 He had 
wealth and ships. He was as much at home 
at sea as on the land. He must find the foun- 
tain soon, while he was still strong, — before 
old age should creep up behind him, and 
seize his limbs, binding him to the chimney 
corner. 

So the White Castle no longer knew the 
lion's tread, and ships were sailing In and 
out among the beautiful islands of the Bahama 
group, bearing an anxious seeker for a crystal 
fountain, which should bring back the years 
of youth and joy. 

There are nearly three thousand Islands in 
the Bahama group ; yet Ponce de Leon went 
bravely to work searching for the isle of the 
magic fountain. BiminI, the Indians called 
it, and wherever de Leon landed, he asked 
questions and heard more stories about the 
wonderful place. Always, too, the Spaniards 
looked for gold and jewels ; but they found 



44 CAMP AND TRAIL 

little, and the search went on. At this island 
and that they touched; in this stream and 
that they bathed ; they took long drinks 
from crystal springs. But youth seemed as 
far away as ever. 

Winding in and out among the islands, the 
ships passed through the Bahamas, and sailed 
on to the northwest. It was spring, and on 
Easter Day land was again seen. Drawing 
nearer, the Spaniards saw a lovely shore, 
green with foliage, bright with blossoms and 
the gorgeous plumage of many birds. 

This was the land we know as Florida. 
The name was given it on that long ago 
Easter Day, and was taken from the day 
itself, which Spaniards call "Pascua Florida," 
the day of the flowery feast. For many days 
the Spanish ships followed the coast of the 
flowery land. At first they hoped that here 
they should find the wondrous fountain, but 
they drank and bathed with no result. At 
last the ships were turned back, and de Leon 
gave up the search. And yet he did not 



IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 45 

really give up, for he meant to return another 
time and search again. 

Years passed before he made the second 
voyage. Old age was drawing nearer now. 
But the brave spirit of the old adventurer was 
still strong. With many followers he landed 
on the Florida coast, as he had long ago 
landed on the fair shore of Puerto Rico. He 
had conquered there, and made the island 
Spanish ground. Here he would do the same. 
He had been ruler of Puerto Rico, dwelling 
in his White Castle high above the sea. 
Here also he would rule, and would build 
another Casa Blanca ; and perhaps he would 
yet find Bimini and the fountain of youth. 

The Indians of Florida were fiercely resent- 
ful of the coming of the strangers, and fighting 
soon began. Indian arrows fell thickly on 
the armor of the Spaniards, and Ponce de 
Leon was wounded by a poisoned dart. He 
fell, and was carried on board ship. From 
the first it seemed likely the gallant old soldier 
would fight no more, and the ships were 



46 CAMP ANDi TRAIL 

turned back. They sought Cuba, the nearest 
Spanish island, and here de Leon died. He had 
found, not youth but death, in the flowery land. 
His body was carried back to Puerto Rico, 
where it still rests, while above it we may 
read these words : 

*' Beneath this stone repose the bones of the valiant 
Lion whose deeds surpassed the greatness of his name." 

Seven years after the death of Ponce de 
Leon a second large company set out from 
the West Indies to conquer Florida, but this 
attempt also was a failure. The company 
moved on and on in the search for gold, through 
forest and swamp, with little food, and often 
weakened in fierce battle with the natives. 

From the west coast of Florida they wan- 
dered, now by land, and again by sea, to the 
coast of Texas, where of the six hundred who 
had begun the voyage, only fifteen remained. 
Of these, four reached Mexico, and nine years 
from the beginning of his wanderings, one of 
the four finally made his way home to Spain. 



IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 47 

Here, In spite of his awful experiences, he 
told great tales of the wonders of the country. 
"Florida is the richest country in the world," 
he said. 

Already a new company was gathering to 
attempt once more the conquest of the flowery 
land. Hernando De Soto, young, rich, and 
already famous for his part in Pizarro's con- 
quest of Peru, was made governor of Cuba 
and Florida. He set out from Spain with a 
large following, for the best and bravest of 
Spanish soldiers begged to go with so distin- 
guished a commander. 

Leaving his wife to govern Cuba in his 
absence, De Soto crossed to Florida. Once 
more the beauties of the flowery land were 
seen, as the Spanish ships approached the 
shore. The silver sand, the sparkling waters, 
the golden sunshine, the green of trees, and the 
gorgeous hues of bird and flower were all 
there to greet De Soto as they had greeted 
his countrymen who had gone before. 

And De Soto sought, as they had sought, 



48 CAMP AND .TRAIL 

for fame and treasure. He went on and on, 
as they had gone, lured by tales of a richer 
country ^'over there." He and his six hun- 
dred men had strange and exciting adventures. 
Sometimes they found the natives kind and 
friendly. Sometimes they found them fierce 
and terrible foes. Like other Spaniards, De 
Soto often cruelly deceived those natives who 
were his friends. It was not long before all 
were enemies, and then the fortunes of the 
Spaniards grew sad indeed. 

Passing soon beyond the boundaries of 
what we know as Florida to-day, the march 
continued to the ''great river," which De 
Soto crossed, after a month had been spent in 
building boats. 

Neither he nor his men saw Florida again. 
Three hundred of the men after great suffer- 
ing reached Mexico, but De Soto was left 
behind, — dead, with his work unfinished, his 
ambition unsatisfied, his life cut off when youth 
had scarcely passed him by. Truly Florida 
had thus far seemed the land of death. Bright 



IN QUEST OF ETERNAL YOUTH 49 

with flowers, sweet with perfumes, balmy with 
soft breezes, it beckoned only to destroy. 

Or perhaps it was not Florida which 
brought destruction to the cruel Spaniards, 
but their own cruelty turned back upon 
themselves. Never were men braver than 
these old-time treasure seekers. They were 
all "lions" in the day of battle. Perhaps it 
is no wonder that they were like lions in other 
ways. In their own way they were great, 
but they lacked the true greatness of kind 
hearts. And so it was that Florida, the 
flowery land, saw battle and suffering, sickness 
and death, — and after all, lay quiet again, 
with the Spaniards passed beyond. And so 
it lay for many years. At last Spain found a 
foothold at St. Augustine, but even that she 
could not hold, and to-day the land of flowers 
is one of our own fair states. Still we may 
see the silver sands, the golden sunshine, 
the gorgeous hues of tree and bird and flower. 
But peaceful people live now along the shores, 
and Florida is no more the land of death. 



50 



CAMP AND TRAIL 




AN ENGLISH SEA KING 



The conquest of Mexico brought great 
riches to the Spanish king. Nor was it long 
before another Spanish adventurer found al- 
most unbounded wealth in the Indian king- 
dom of Peru. Spanish ships carried home 
whole cargoes of gold and silver and precious 
stones. The Spanish king grew to be the 
richest of rulers, and Spanish ships multiplied. 
Spain was soon the ''mistress of the seas." 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 51 

There were ships and sailors in France and 
England, but the Spaniards took great pains 
that little should be known about their treas- 
ure lands. They had no idea of sharing 
their treasure with any one. 

Perhaps no English sailor ever won greater 
fame than Francis Drake. They called him 
a "sea king," and the time came when even 
Spain, the mistress of the seas, trembled at 
his name. 

From early childhood Francis Drake knew 
the sea as a familiar friend. For years his 
very home was an abandoned old warship, 
where the waves rocked him to his evening 
slumbers and the sea winds sang his lullabies. 
In Plymouth harbor, where the warships 
lay when not at sea, the old hulk was anchored, 
and the boy's days were spent watching the 
sailors work, listening to sailors' stories, or 
playing games of naval war. 

The people of England at this time had no 
love for the rich and powerful mistress of the 
seas. It was a time when religion caused 



52 CAMP AND. TRAIL 

many bitter quarrels, and even wars. Catho- 
lic and Protestant could not live in harmony, 
as they do to-day. Each hated and despised 
the other, and both seemed to believe that 
people could be made to change their beliefs 
at the point of the sword. The people of 
Spain were Catholics. Many English people 
were Protestant, and during most of Drake's 
life England was ruled by a Protestant queen. 
So it was not strange that Spaniards hated 
England, and that Englishmen hated Spain, 
especially as they saw her king grow stronger 
and prouder every year. 

Francis Drake's whole life seems to have 
been ruled by two great passions. He loved 
the sea, and he hated Spain. And he made 
the one passion feed the other. He was still 
only a boy when he made his first sea voyage, 
and at nineteen was captain of a slave ship 
under Captain John Hawkins, his cousin. 
In those days the slave trade was a new and 
profitable business, considered quite as proper 
and respectable as any other sort of trade. 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 53 

Negroes were captured on the African coast, 
and were carried across to be sold to the Span- 
ish planters in the West Indies. The planters 
were eager to secure the negroes, and would 
pay well for them, even though they had been 
forbidden by their king to trade with any 
but Spanish ships. Sometimes the Spanish 
governors interfered, but that made little 
difference to the English captains, who found 
not only wealth but great satisfaction in 
outwitting them. 

We can well imagine that this sort of life 
just suited young Drake, and that he was 
well pleased with the cargo of gold and 
pearls with which they started home from 
the Spanish islands. Their return was not 
to be without mishap, however. A hurri- 
cane drove them far south into the Gulf 
of Mexico, and to escape destruction Haw- 
kins boldly put into the Spanish port of 
Vera Cruz. There he found twelve great 
ships loaded with Spanish gold and silver, 
a whole year's produce from the mines of 



54 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

Mexico. They were waiting for the war- 
ships which should protect them on the 
voyage to Spain. Next day the warships 
came, only to find the English fleet barring 
their entrance to the harbor. 

Hawkins, however, agreed to allow the 
Spanish warships to come in if they would 
grant him permission to repair his ships 
without interference. The agreement was 
made, but in spite of it the Spaniards treach- 
erously attacked the English ships. There 
was a fearful battle, and of the six vessels 
Hawkins had led into the harbor, only two 
of the smaller ones escaped. All of the 
gold and pearls were gone, and when the 
two vessels reached England, their half- 
starved crews carried home nothing to show 
for their venture except undying hatred for 
the Spaniards, and an oft-repeated prayer for 
revenge. 

We hear no more of trading for Drake. 
He made two voyages to the Spanish Indies, 
in which he searched for some vital spot in 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 55 

which to wound his enemy ; then comes 
his first attempt to make that wound. 

With two ships and about seventy men, he 
sailed once more for the Spanish Main. 
This time he meant to strike. We hear of 
him at Nombre de Dios, "the treasure house 
of the world," and again intercepting the 
mule trains which brought the Peruvian 
treasure to that port from Panama. He 
would cut out vessels from under the very 
shadow of the Spanish guns. He would 
seize provision ships, and rifle the cargoes 
of merchantmen. In all the Caribbean Sea 
no spot seemed safe from him, and all Span- 
ish America came to stand in constant dread 
of "the dragon" who swooped down upon 
them, struck, and was gone before they 
could recover breath. 

It was a strange sort of warfare to be 
going on between subjects of nations pledged 
to peace. For however much English and 
Spaniards hated each other, they were not 
at war. In later days Drake would have 



CAMP AND TRAIL 




^?m.M 




been called a pirate, but 
In his own time no one 
thought any less of him 
for helping himself to the 
treasure of the Spanish 
king, except that king 
himself and his country- 
men. And we must give 
Drake due credit for 
two things. He seized no 
treasure except it belonged to the hated Span- 



i^^ibu^ 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 57 

iards ; and contrary to the custom of the time, 
he neither killed nor tortured prisoners. 

It was on an overland march to Panama 
that Drake first saw the boundless waters 
of the great ''South Sea." At the very- 
summit of a mountain peak grew a lofty 
tree, and from its branches he gazed in awe 
and wonder. Then and there was born in 
his mind a great resolve, and he prayed 
"that Almighty God of his great goodness 
would give him life and leave to sail once 
in an English ship upon that sea." 

At last the prows of the vessels were 
turned toward England, and on a mid- 
summer Sunday the boom of Drake's can- 
non in a salute to "home" startled the good 
folk of Plymouth, and caused the preacher 
great dismay as his congregation rushed 
forth in the midst of sermon time to greet 
the bold young captain. 

Several years passed before Drake's great 
resolve in the giant tree of Panama bore 
fruit. But he was still a young man when 



58 CAMP AND TRAIL 

with five ships he set out to gain his heart's 
desire. 

The ill feeling between England and Spain 
was increasing year by year. No doubt 
"the dragon's" escapades in the Spanish 
colonies had something to do with this, and 
there were other reasons as well. Some- 
times it seemed as though war was at hand, 
then the troubled skies would clear again. 

Queen Elizabeth of England desired peace 
with so powerful a monarch as King Philip. 
Yet she longed to injure him, to torment 
him in any and every way that would not 
bring open war. There seems little doubt 
that Drake had her permission, if not her 
orders, to proceed to the Spanish king's 
dominions on the Pacific, to rob him of his 
treasure and put his subjects in fear of their 
lives. 

It was generally supposed that Drake's 
fleet was being fitted for a voyage to Egypt. 
It is interesting to read that the hardy sea- 
man was surrounded on this voyage by state 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 59 

and luxury. Everything was as splendid as 
money could make it. But I fancy "the 
dragon" cared less for the splendor than 
for the work he had set out to do. 

Only once since the discoverer had first 
opened the way across the dreaded Atlantic 
had any seaman been bold enough to sail 
around South America into the greatest of 
all the oceans beyond. It was now more 
than fifty years since Magellan had made 
his wonderful voyage around the w^orld, and 
no one had succeeded in following him. 
Spanish sailors had tried and failed, and it 
was now long years since any attempt had 
been made to reach the Spanish settlements 
on the Pacific except by way of Panama. 

Here at least the Spaniards felt safe from 
the dragon. Their treasure ships plied be- 
tween Valparaiso, Lima, and Panama, secure 
in the knowledge that no flag had ever 
floated above those seas but the red and gold 
of Spain. 

But ''the dragon" was on the way! 



6o CAMP AND TRAIL 

Down the coast of South America the fleet 
was struggling, fighting storms that threat- 
ened to send every ship to the bottom, and 
fighting no less the grumbling of the seamen, 
who had started with no notion of such a 
voyage. Under the fair skies of England 
it was summer now and June roses were 
blossoming, while in these forsaken seas 
winter cold and wild winds grew fiercer 
every day. 

But the "sea king" meant to reach the 
great "South Sea," and nothing could hold 
him back. Late in August the three ships 
remaining entered the Straits of Magellan. 
It was a land of ice and snow through which 
they sailed. Wild storms and strange cur- 
rents made every inch of the passage a 
struggle. But the ships pushed bravely on, 
and in spite of storms and buffeting, in two 
weeks they had passed the straits and faced 
the open sea. Then the worst storm of all 
struck them, and for nearly two months 
they were blown about, under black skies, 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 6i 

In strange waters, and along strange shores. 
One of the three ships went down, with all 
her crew. Another, separated from the flag- 
ship, gave up and turned back through the 
frozen straits. And so the ''sea king" was 
left alone. 

When the storm had worn itself away, 
the Golden Hind lay among islands farther 
south than ever ship had been before. And 
Drake was filled with triumph, for the storm 
had taught him what the world would re- 
joice to know. The great southern con- 
tinent marked on all the maps below Magel- 
lan's Straits was not there ! Only a group 
of islands, and beyond the Atlantic and 
Pacific rolling together in one deep, dark 
sea. Silently and alone he landed on the 
farthest point, and walking to its very end, 
lay down, stretching his arms to embrace 
the land's end of the southern world. 

Turning away to the northward, Drake 
sailed under sunny skies and on placid seas. 
And so it happened that the crew of a 



62 CAMP AND .TRAIL 

Spanish ship in Valparaiso harbor one day 
saw a sail on the horizon, and looked forward 
to a merry night. It was the Golden Hind, 
and her crew made short work of taking the 
Spanish ship with its cargo of gold and wine ; 
and indeed of taking anything and every- 
thing they wanted in the harbor and the 
town. Then the mysterious ship went on 
its way up the coast, gayly plundering the 
little settlements, overhauling treasure ships, 
and leaving terror and chagrin behind. 

From Callao, the port of Lima, Drake 
started in pursuit of a huge vessel, the Spit- 
fire, loaded with a vast quantity of gold, 
silver, and precious stones. She was four- 
teen days ahead of him, but he resolved to 
have her, though he should "tear her from 
her moorings at Panama itself." It was 
an exciting chase, but the dragon overtook 
and seized his prey. Not daring to hold 
her there in the path of possible pursuit 
while he transferred her cargo to the Golden 
Hind, he led her out a three days' sail into 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 63 

the silent sea. There the transfer was made, 
and Drake's treasure was greater by thirteen 
chests of pieces of eight, eighty pounds of 
gold, jewels too many to number, and many 
tons of silver. 

This capture ended the plundering, for 
the good ship would hold no more. Surely 
it had been a great voyage ! And now for 
home ! But it would never do to go back 
down the coast into the very arms of the 
Spaniards, wide awake now, and on the 
watch. There must be some other way. 
So up the coast the sea king sailed, by Cali- 
fornia, up to Oregon, as far as Vancouver 
Island. He was looking for some passage 
into the Atlantic, but he found none, and 
at last turned back. After a month spent 
in a harbor on the California shore to refit 
the Golden Hind for still another giant's 
task, her prow was turned west, and around 
the world Drake made his way home. 

Almost three years had passed when the 
Golden Hind, battered and wormeaten, ap- 



64 



CAMP AND. TRAIL 



peared In Plymouth harbor. There was 
great excitement over Drake's return. The 
Spanish king sent messages demanding that 
he be punished for his misdeeds, but the 

queen was too much 
pleased with his ex- 
ploits and his gifts to 
think of punishment. 
Before many months 
had passed, she had 
publicly made him a 
knight; and soon Sir 
Francis Drake was 
planning new exploits 
and ''misdeeds." 

The patience of King 
Philip was nearly gone, 
and It was rumored that he was preparing 
for war. In the midst of these rumors 
Drake crossed once more to the Spanish 
settlements on the Gulf Coast, and returned, 
leaving behind him havoc and destruction. 
Later, an admiral in the navy now, he sailed 




King Philip 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING 65 

against Cadiz, In Spain itself, and dealt 
fearful blows at the fleet King Philip was 
constructing there. He had ''singed the 
King of Spain's beard," he said. 

The next year the dreaded fleet came, — 
the "Invincible Armada," the Spaniards 
called it. Drake had been wildly impatient 
to go forth with every ship England could 
gather to seek the Armada before it should 
leave the Spanish coast. But the queen 
v/ould not consent to this until it was tod 
late, and the Armada was at England's very 
shores. So the battle was fought in the 
English Channel, and it was one of the great 
battles of the world. The Spanish ships 
were huge affairs, and as they swept down 
upon the English in a long crescent-shaped 
line it must have been a splendid sight. 

The English ships were there to meet 
them, with Drake and many another brave 
old seaman in command. Then there were 
days of fighting, with clouds of smoke, the 
boom of cannon, and the crash of falling 



66 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



masts and rigging ; with the blare of trump- 
ets and the shouting of war cries ; with 
sinking ships and dying sailors. There were 
nights of fighting in moonlight bright as 
day; or again in darkness black as ink, but 

lighted by the 
fierce glare of 
the fireships that 
the English were 
driving against 
the Spanish 
fleet. Oh ! there 
was fighting in 
plenty, and there 
were brave deeds, 
and great men. 
But the glory 
of the battle goes first of all to Sir Francis 
Drake, the sea king, on his flagship, the 
Revenge. I shall not try to tell you just how 
the battle was won for England, but it was a 
hard fight, and long. It is enough that we 
see the Spanish fleet, invincible no longer, 




The Revenge 



AN ENGLISH SEA KING (,'] 

but broken and scattered, swept out of the 
Channel by a kindly wind, driven away to 
trouble England no more. 

I have told you the great deeds of this 
one of England's great men. Now I must 
tell you of his last treasure hunt, — then 
lay the pen down, for his story will be done. 
Once more the dragon was unchained, to 
sweep across the sea to Nombre de Dios, 
'^the treasure house of the world." Once 
more he was to seize King Philip's gold. 
But alas ! the very fear the name of Drake 
had inspired had locked the door of the 
treasure house beyond his power to open. 
Everywhere were forts and guns, or buried 
and hidden treasure, and deserted towns. 
From one place to another he went. But 
only failure greeted him in each. He pushed 
on and on. He began to see his great name 
tarnish. "We must have gold before we 
see England," he would cry. Disease seized 
upon his men, and at last upon the sea king 
himself. 



68 CAMP AND .TRAIL 

Day by day he grew weaker, and at last 
he died. And there in the waters of the 
Spanish Main, where often he had sailed 
to seek for treasure and revenge, they laid 
him for his last rest. Truly to the sea he 
belonged. He had but returned to his own ! 



THE "CITY OF RALEIGH'' AT ROANOKE 69 




THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT 
ROANOKE 

Within the long line of sandbars along 
the coast of North Carolina lies an island 
with an Indian name — Roanoke. Outside 
the bars are the stormy shoals which cause 
the name of Cape Hatteras to be feared by 
sailor men. Within is Roanoke, white with 
glistening sea sand, green with spreading 
forests, fragrant with summer flowers. 

Long ago beautiful Roanoke was the scene 
of a sad, sad story, — saddest of all because 



70 CAMP AND .TRAIL 

it is a story without an end, or more truly, 
a story whose end we can never know. It 
is the story of the first English homeseekers 
in America, with their hopes, their hardships, 
and at last, — but let me tell you the story ! 

The countries of Europe looked on with 
envy while Spain gathered rich treasure 
from new-found America. But in England 
one man at least was far-sighted enough to 
see that gold and silver were not the only 
treasures that the New World might yield. 

This man was Sir Walter Raleigh. Some 
day you may enjoy reading about his life 
at the brilliant court of Queen Elizabeth. 
He was a soldier, a sailor, a writer, a court- 
ier, and a great favorite with the queen. 
He had many interests, but second to none 
was his project of '^founding an English 
nation across the sea." Raleigh believed 
that prosperous English settlements in 
America, whose people would trade with 
England, and to which poor people might 



THE ^' CITY OF RALEIGH " AT ROANOKE 71 

go to earn an honest living, would be greater 
treasures to the mother country than silver 
and gold. 

It was in 1584 that Raleigh obtained the 
queen's permission to make a settlement 
on the eastern coast of America, and he 
made his plans at once. His first thought 
was to find out more about the new land, 
therefore he sent two ships on an exploring 
voyage. In the middle of the summer these 
ships, having crept along the coast from 
Florida, rested in harbor at Roanoke Island. 

The country seemed wonderfully beautiful 
to the English captains. In their report 
to Raleigh they tell of ''goodly cedar trees," 
heavily loaded grape vines, and sweet odors 
as of "some delicate garden abounding with 
all kinds of flowers." They describe their 
meetings with the Indians who lived on the 
beautiful islands. The red men were very 
friendly. "A more kind and loving people 
there cannot be found in the world," writes 
one of the captains. He tells an amusing 



72 CAMP AND TRAIL 

story of the Indian "king," who from all 
the gifts the white men offered him chose a 
bright tin pan, which he hung before him 
for a shield, and for which he gave the cap- 
tain *' twenty skins." 

Much that is interesting is told of the 
dress of the Indians, their ornaments of 
pearl and coral, and their homes. Their 
boats were made from great logs, burned 
out hollow. Some of them were large enough 
to hold twenty men. 

The captains carried home to Raleigh 
glowing reports of the beauty of the country, 
the richness of the soil, and the kindness 
of the people. Raleigh hastened to the 
queen, who was greatly charmed by his 
stories of this American paradise. Nothing 
seemed lacking, — delightful climate, fertile 
soil, magnificent forests, game, fish, gentle 
and friendly neighbors. 

"It shall be called Virginia," cried Eliza- 
beth, the "Virgin Queen." 

Raleigh went to work at once, and the 



THE " CITY OF RALEIGH " AT ROANOKE 73 



next summer saw seven English vessels brav- 
ing the storms of the Atlantic to carry set- 
tlers to the new Virginia. The queen would 
not permit Raleigh to go himself, which 
was unfortunate for the colony. Most of 
the one hundred and 
seven settlers knew noth- 
ing about making homes 
in a wild country ; and 
even though they were 
sent to make the begin- 
ning of "an English na- 
tion," they were thinking 
more of gold mines than 
of corn fields. 

They even showed so 
little wisdom as to quarrel with the Indians. 
We know that, gentle and kind as the red 
men seemed, they could change easily enough 
into cruel and unforgiving enemies ; and this 
they did, when the white men treated them 
unfairly. The theft of a silver cup by an 
Indian was punished by burning a whole Ind- 




Th( 



Virgin Queen " 



74 CAMP ANI> TRAIL 

ian village, and after that there was little 
left of loving kindness between red men and 
whites. 

We find it hard to realize just how dis- 
couraging life in a new and untamed land 
must be. Away from home and friends, 
with few comforts, with constant heavy 
work, coarse food, and no pleasures, most 
men would become discontented, as these 
did. They planted and sowed, but it was 
only lest starvation should overtake them, 
and not because they longed to make good 
homes in Virginia. Many a man stole away 
from his work to search for gold, and to 
dream as he searched of the day when, his 
fortune made, he should return to spend it 
on old English soil. 

The winter passed, and with the return 
of the balmy springtime new crops were 
planted, and the settlers began to look 
eagerly for the supply ship promised them 
from England. As they watched they longed 
for home. 



THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 75 

One day In June sails were seen against 
the blue of sea and sky, and soon appeared 
a fleet of twenty-three English vessels. It 
was Sir Francis Drake's fleet. He was 
merely making a friendly call, as he returned 
from calls less friendly along the Spanish 
Main. 

Never were Englishmen more welcome 
than to these homesick Virginians ; and as 
they thought of Drake's ships headed toward 
home It seemed as though they too must 
go, away from these savage, shores, to the 
peaceful towns or busy cities of old England. 

In vain Sir Francis tried to cheer them 
with supplies and even by leaving two small 
ships In which they might sail for England 
if their supply ship did not come. The un- 
happy colonists found no longer any pleas- 
ure In beautiful Roanoke. They cared noth- 
ing for their crops, now almost ready for 
the harvest. They thought only of the roll- 
ing ocean between them and England ; of 
the stealthy savages, no longer their friends ; 



76 CAMP ANET TRAIL 

of the dullness and the toil in a new land ; 
of their fruitless search for gold. Sadly 
they prepared the letters that Drake would 
take to their friends in England. And when 
a sudden storm blew out to sea some of 
Drake's vessels, with many of the Virginia 
colonists on board, the rest came clamoring 
to Drake to take them too, to take them 
all away from this lonely island, — to take 
them home. And Drake yielded. 

So it happened that the summer sun shone 
brightly on ungathered crops ; on deserted 
huts ; on forsaken beginnings of homes ; on 
fair Roanoke, silent once more but for the 
roll of the sea and the hoarse call of the great 
white cranes in the marshes along shore. 

Raleigh might well have been discouraged 
at the failure of his carefully laid plans. It 
had been an expensive failure too. Perhaps 
the only result of the year's struggle was a 
careful study of the plants and other natural 
products of Virginia, made by Thomas Har- 
iot. The most important of the plants, not 



THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE ^'j 

already known in England, were the potato 
and the tobacco plants, both of which were 
soon commonly used in England. 

The potato was without doubt worth many 
gold mines. And while we may feel sure 
that the world would have been better off 
without tobacco, we shall find many people 
who will not agree with us, — and we must 
admit that raising it later brought wealth 
to many in the New World. 

The next year we find Raleigh sending out 
one hundred and fifty new settlers to Vir- 
ginia. This time they were to seek a home 
on the mainland north of Cape Hatteras, 
somewhere on the shore of Chesapeake Bay. 
Here was to be built the City of Raleigh. 

The master of the ships, however, cared 
little where the City of Raleigh should be 
located, and refused to go farther than the 
old settlement at Roanoke. Here the new 
settlers patched up the old houses and began 
once more the task of founding an English 
nation in the New World. 



78 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

There were women and children in this 
second band of colonists, and it was hoped 
that real homes in Virginia might keep the 
planters, as the settlers were called, from 
the great longing for their old homes in 
England. Scarcely a month after the land- 
ing a baby was born in Roanoke, daughter 
to Mistress Eleanor Dare, and granddaughter 
to Governor John White, who ruled the colony. 

Preparations were made to baptize this 
baby, who was the first child born of English 
parents in America. They named her Vir- 
ginia, for their new American home. And 
no doubt the planters gayly celebrated her 
christening, — little Virginia Dare, first of 
all the children they hoped to see grow up 
in the "City of Raleigh" they were so 
bravely beginning. 

There was much work to do, for the 
summer was already far gone, and it seemed 
likely that unless crops could be planted 
and harvested before winter, the planters 
would suffer from hunger, since the stores 



THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 79 

of provisions brought from England would 
soon be gone. 

Some tribes of Indians were friendly, but 
others were mindful of the evil treatment 
rendered by the earlier band of white men, 
and close watch must be kept. It was a 
strange, busy, watchful life upon which baby 
Virginia's eyes had opened. 

When she was only a week old, the 
planters, fearing lest their supplies should 
be exhausted, and the winter find them 
without food, urged Governor White to go 
himself to England that he might hasten 
the sending of a supply ship. The governor 
hesitated. He feared to leave his family, 
with the tiny granddaughter, in this strange 
land without his protecting arm. But at 
last he consented, and bidding his loved 
ones farewell he ordered the sails of the little 
ship spread and the anchor weighed. So 
he sailed out of sight, and the settlers went 
on with their struggle against weariness and 
hunger and savage foes. 



8o CAMP AND 'TRAIL 

Governor White reached England just as 
the country was thrown into wild alarm by 
the Spanish king's Invincible Armada. He 
found it impossible to get the supplies for 
which he had come. English ships were 
ordered to make ready for the defence of 
England, and forbidden to leave port. Gov- 
ernor White could only wait. 

At last Raleigh obtained permission for 
two ships to sail to Virginia with supplies 
and more settlers, and in one of these ships 
the governor thankfully turned westward. 
They had not gone far, however, before 
pirates attacked and plundered them, after 
which they turned back. Again the gover- 
nor landed on English soil. Again he could 
only wait. 

By this time Raleigh had spent a fortune 
on his colony, and had little left. No one 
else seemed inclined to spend money on a 
venture which promised no gold or other 
immediate profit. At length, however, Ral- 
eigh succeeded in organizing a company 



THE ''CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 8i 

to carry on the work he had begun ; and 
again White set out to carry aid to Roanoke 
and to see his family once more. 

Three years had passed since he left the 
island settlement, and it was with mingled 
joy and fear that he approached the Ameri- 
can coast. The baby Virginia would be old 
enough to run about now. Perhaps he 
would find another grandchild in the little 
home. Had the settlers been able to ward 
off starvation ^ Had the Indians attacked 
them ^ What should he find on beautiful 
Roanoke ^ 

The ship anchored within the sandbars, 
and two boatloads of men rowed across to 
the island. It was night when they ap- 
proached the shore, — dark as night could 
be. Seeing a faint light, the boats were 
rowed as near as it was safe, and anchored, 
while the trumpeter sounded a call, and 
afterward played English tunes to tell the 
settlers that friends were near. 

There was no answering call or cry. Again 



82 CAMP AND TRAIL 

and again the trumpet's call sounded over 
the dark waters, but it met no response save 
a fitful echo from the shore. And so the 
anxious seekers waited for the morning. 

At the first light of dawn they went on 
shore, finding the ashes of the fire they had 
seen, with many footprints made by naked 
feet of savages. Going on they found, where 
the houses had been, a rudely built fort in 
their stead ; but they found no settlers, 
and within the fort only scattered cannon 
balls, overgrown with grass and weeds. 

Eagerly the governor looked for some sign 
that might show the fate of the people who 
were gone. Some of the sailors found five 
chests, buried, it would seem, for safekeep- 
ing, but long since dug up again and their 
contents scattered. The governor looked 
sadly down upon his own books and pictures, 
torn and mud stained, and his suit of armor, 
eaten through with rust. And they could 
tell him nothing ! The hundred people he 
had left were gone ! Where ? Starved ? 



THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 83 

Murdered ? Or alive, driven perhaps by 
hunger or danger to some better, safer place ? 
What had become of his daughter and the 
baby grandchild, little Virginia Dare ? The 
governor's mind rang with questions, to 
which there were no answers. 

But wait ! there were letters carved on 
the great post at the gateway of the fort. 
Perhaps here was the answer. The men 
crowded around, spelling out the word. 
c — R — o — A — ^T — A — N — Croatan. They 
turned to the governor, whose face was 
already lighting with hope. Croatan was 
the name of a neighboring island, where 
friendly Indians lived. Surely there he 
would find his people safe, — even baby 
Virginia, who would run to meet him ! 

So the governor left Roanoke, and the 
ship was turned toward Croatan. But 
storms, and broken cables, lost anchors and 
scarcity of water seemed to join together 
to make landing impossible, and the master 
of the ship at length turned her prow to 



84 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

the south, carrying the governor away with 
his questions still unanswered. 

But it made little difference, for there 
were no answers at Croatan. Nor were 
there any answers anywhere. We can only 
guess and wonder and guess again what 
happened to the lonely people on Roanoke ; 
where they went and why ; whether the 
wolf of hunger or the painted warrior made 
an end of them ; what dreadful sights baby 
Virginia's eyes looked upon before they were 
closed forever ; how it all happened that 
once more beautiful Roanoke was silent 
save for the roll of the sea and the hoarse 
cries of the great white cranes in the marshes 
along shore. 

The story of Raleigh's lost colony is the 
first story of English homeseekers in the 
strange country overseas. It shows us some- 
thing of what men and women faced who 
left their peaceful homes in England for the 
wilderness in America. It makes us wonder 
that band after band of English colonists 



THE "CITY OF RALEIGH" AT ROANOKE 85 

dared to follow these early settlers, going to 
many places on the Atlantic shore. The 
''City of Raleigh" was never built as Raleigh 
planned, on the shore of Chesapeake Bay. 
Roanoke saw no more settlements, and per- 
haps the Indian warriors felt that they had 
put an end to the white man's coming. But 
it was not for long. 

''I shall yet live to see Virginia an English 
nation," said Raleigh, in spite of failure and 
disappointment. And so he did. 

You will read of that later Virginia, with 
its settlement at Jamestown, — of the dan- 
gers and hardships met and conquered. You 
will learn of prosperous planters with com- 
fortable homes and broad fields. You will 
hear the cheerful sounds of plantation life, 
with song and children's laughter. And yet 
I wonder if with me you will sometimes hear 
a dream echo of an English trumpet playing 
English tunes, calling unanswered across the 
dark waters to the lost colony of Roanoke ? 



86 



CAMP AND. TRAIL 




A VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW 
ENGLAND 

A FAMOUS old river is the Connecticut, 
flowing placidly down through its green 
New England valley; and many of the 
sedate old towns in the green valley date 
back to the early days. You have heard 
how the Pilgrim Fathers left their homes 
in England and bravely took up their new 
life on the bleak shore of Cape Cod Bay. 
And we might tell story after story of the 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 87 

homeseekers whose white sails dotted the 
Atlantic and whose homes began to spring 
up all along the coast. 

The Connecticut valley was settled early, 
and fifty years after the first shipload of 
colonists landed in New England there was 
a chain of little towns along the river. Most 
of these valley settlements were made by 
people from the coast towns, who had heard 
of the fine farm lands in the river valley. 

In the town of Hatfield, on the western 
bank of the Connecticut, the autumn of 
1677 found the people busy as usual with 
the harvest and their preparations for winter. 
There was corn to be cut and husked ; there 
were beans, pumpkins, and other vegetables 
to be stored from the frost; flax was to be 
pulled, grain cut, and fall ploughing done. 
For Hatfield, like all the settlements, was a 
farming town, and the winter's comfort de- 
pended much upon the stores in barn and 
cellar. 

Within the houses the women were quite 



88 CAMP AND TRAIL 

as busy as the men outside, with baking and 
brewing, weaving and spinning, knitting and 
making warm garments to protect husbands 
and children from coming frosts and snow. 

Truly, Hatfield was a busy place, and 
withal a pleasant place in which to live. 
The sun shone brightly on the brown Sep- 
tember fields, and on the long street where 
the houses of the Hatfield folk were built. 
A new house was just begun, and the merry 
ring of the carpenters' hammers could be 
heard early and late. For frost was coming 
and the work must be hastened. The south 
end of "the street" led to the river, where 
a clumsy old ferry boat served those who 
would cross to Hadley, on the eastern bank 
of the stream. All about the prospect was 
peaceful and pleasant, and spoke of com- 
fortable living and happy though humble 
homes. 

In the big kitchen of one of these Hatfield 
homesteads, the family was gathering for 
its evening meal. In the great fireplace 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 89 

a cheery fire was blazing, for the fall nights 
were growing chill. The table, with its 
snowy cloth of homespun linen, stood ready. 
The dishes were heavy and clumsy, but the 
fare was good, for the days of hunger in the 
settlements had long passed. The goodwife, 
in ample apron, kerchief, and cap, stirred 
the porridge in the brass kettle hanging over 
the fire, while the children played about the 
room. 

At the entrance of Goodman Coleman 
the children drew near the table, the por- 
ridge was placed in its appointed bowl ; 
goodman and goodwife took their seats and 
every head was bowed while the father 
devoutly prayed God's blessing on the food 
before them. 

'^It is well the good weather holdeth," 
said the goodwife as the cheerful clatter of 
spoons announced the beginning of the meal. 
"Canst thou finish the corn to-morrow?" 

"That can hardly be, Hannah," answered 
the goodman, "but two more days of fair 



90 CAMP AND 'TRAIL 

weather will see it all in the barns. I am 
looking for early frost, and shall let naught 
interfere with harvesting. Thomas," to the 
tallest of the five children clustered about 
the table, ''we shall rise betimes to-morrow, 
so thou shouldst go early to thy bed." 

"Father," called ten-year-old Hannah, 
''didst see the savages pass through the 
street to-day ^ I feared them so that I ran 
and hid till they were gone." 

"I saw them, Hannah, as they passed 
out the South Gate on their way toward 
Hadley. They are far away ere now. Thou 
needst not fear them. It is more than a 
year since any savage has attacked the valley 
settlements, and it is believed that our old 
enemies have left the valley for a new home 
in Canada. They were Mohawks that thou 
sawest, going east on the Bay Road." 

"I would that there were no savages," 
answered the little girl. "I love not their 
painted faces, and their wild ways. I shall 
dream of them to-night." 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 91 

"Indeed thou must not, Hannah," said 
Thomas, "else thou'lt cry out In thy sleep 
and fright us all." 

With table cleared and candles lighted, the 
kitchen settled down to its evening quiet. 
The baby slept peacefully in its low wooden 
cradle, and soon the older children were 
sleeping too, while goodman and goodwife 
worked busily as they sat beside the fire. 
There was little time for idling in these busy 
households. 

Deftly turning the heel in the stocking 
she was knitting, the goodwife had leisure 
to plan the work for to-morrow, and counted 
it rest enough that the busy feet and voices 
of the children were stilled for the day. On 
the other side of the hearth the goodman 
worked on a stout little shoe, which he was 
finishing for one of those same busy feet. 
The tap tap of his hammer and the gentle 
click of the knitting needles scarcely seemed 
to break the silence of the room, now only 
dimly lighted by the dying embers of the fire. 



92 CAMP AND .TRAIL 

When the shoe was finished the goodman 
took down the Bible from its shelf, and the 
goodwife, laying aside her knitting, listened 
reverently to the reading and prayer with 
which New England families closed their 
day. Then carefully covering the fire with 
ashes, they sought their beds. 

Very early in the morning the village was 
astir. There were cows to be milked and 
to be driven out to the herdsman's care. 
There were sheep to care for, and there was 
work in the barns. All day the harvest 
work went on. Heavy ox carts laden with 
yellow corn creaked and rumbled up the 
street. In the kitchens great ovens were 
heated and the baking done. For to-morrow 
was the Sabbath and there must be food 
ready. No Puritan housewife cooked on 
Sunday. 

''Hannah, canst thou mind Sarah and 
the baby for an hour this afternoon .^" asked 
Goodwife Coleman, when dinner was over 
and cleared away. "I have a mind to help 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 93 

Sarah White with her quilting. The new 
house will soon be done, and Sarah must 
be ready with her bridal furnishings. And 
she hath no mother to help her, poor girl." 

Hannah felt very sure she could watch 
little Sarah and the baby sister for an hour, 
and her mother was soon hastening down 
the street on her neighborly errand. Sarah 
was glad enough to have the help, and it 
was not long before another and another of 
the kind-hearted Hatfield women had joined 
them about the quilting frame. The gay 
patchwork upon which they worked had 
been carefully sewed by pretty young Sarah, 
and when the quilting was done, would be 
laid in the chest with her bridal linen. 

The women chatted happily as their 
needles flew. ''Hast heard of the case of 
John Fisher of Hadley.^" asked one. "The 
court hath fined him sixty shillings for that 
he called Thomas Beaman's mother a witch." 

"And it is well," answered another of the 
Puritan goodwives, "that the court should 



94 CAMP AND -TRAIL 

bridle the tongues of those who can put no 
bridle upon them themselves. We may all 
be called witches if the foolish and the 
slanderous have their way." 

''Dost believe that Mary Webster doth 
really bewitch the cattle and the horses that 
pass her door.^" asked another. 

"It were not safe to say, since I know 
not," was the reply. ''Wouldst have the 
court fine me for idle speech .^" 

''Well, for my part, I should like to see 
the old dame tested in the river. If mayhap 
she should float, then we should all know 
she was a witch." 

"Canst talk of naught but witches .^" 
said Goodwife Coleman. "I like not the 
subject. Didst see the savages pass through 
the street yesterday .^" 

"I like savages still less than witches," 
came the answer. "Shall we hear the new 
minister to-morrow .^" 

And so the talk went on until the hour 
glass had been turned once and the sand had 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 95 

run out half again. Then it was time to 
return to the little flocks at home, and to 
set all in order for the Sabbath ere sunset ; 
for it was the custom, which none dared 
nor cared to break, to lay aside work and 
play when the sun went down on Saturday 
night, and to keep Sabbath until sunset of 
Sunday. 

The children found it less easy than their 
elders to welcome the long hours of the 
Sabbath. They had few playthings on any 
day, but what they had were solemnly laid 
aside, and there was nothing for restless 
hands and still more restless minds to do. 
They must rise early, as usual, for it was 
wicked to waste the Lord's Day in bed. 
Then, the simple breakfast over and cleared 
away, there were family prayers, after which 
the whole family prepared for their walk 
to the "meeting house," where their long 
day of worship began by nine o'clock. 

It was weary work for the children to sit 
still for three long hours, while the minister's 



96 CAMP AND -TRAIL 

voice resounded in solemn explanation and 
warning. The women and girls sat on one 
side of the meeting house, and the youngest 
children with them. On the other side sat 
the fathers and young men. But the half- 
grown boys — the wriggling, mischievous, 
unruly boys — sat on the steps of the pulpit 
where all eyes were upon them. There were 
Thomas and John and Noah, Hannah's 
brothers, and their playmates and friends. 
Sometimes when they wriggled overmuch 
the tithing-man rapped them sharply on the 
head with his knobbed stick, for it was his 
duty to keep order in the Lord's house. 

After the meeting was over came perhaps 
the hardest time of all. How the children 
watched the slowly setting sun, and longed 
for it to disappear behind the western hills. 
At last it was gone, and once more the home- 
steads woke to life as the castle of the sleep- 
ing beauty in the fairy tale. Mother took up 
her knitting, father and the boys went out 
to their nightly tasks in the barn, while the 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 97 

children ran and jumped and shouted, to 
let loose the spirits so solemnly sup- 
pressed all day. 

On this September Sabbath, the Coleman 
children begged for pop-corn after supper, 
and sat in a merry circle on the great hearth 
while Thomas held the popper over the 
blaze. Sarah, the four-year-old, wearing 
the stout little shoes the goodman had made 
so carefully, shouted with laughter as the 
yellow kernels mysteriously turned them- 
selves inside out into tiny snowballs. Even 
the grave elders smiled at her glee. 

Bright and early next morning the week's 
work began. Goodman Coleman, anxious 
to finish harvesting the corn, took Thomas 
and even eight-year-old John with him to 
the corn-field on the South Meadow below 
the town. Most of the men and boys of 
the village were there, hastening to get in 
their crops. 

Hannah had her daily tasks to do, and 
her ''stint" of spinning to finish before she 



98 CAMP ANDi TRAIL 

could play, but Noah and Sarah were out 
early, and had a whole troop of playfellows 
at their heels, for there were many children 
in the Hatfield homes. 

It was a beautiful morning, bright and 
clear. Gayly the children shouted, and 
Hannah longed to leave the spinning wheel 
and join them. But it was after ten when 
she was free to go, and even then she must 
first run up-stairs to the attic, where the 
dried herbs were hanging. Mother wanted 
catnip for the baby, who seemed ailing, and 
Hannah must bring it to her. 

Hurrying up the stairs, she reached the 
bunches of sweet-smelling herbs. These were 
the medicines with which people "doctored" 
themselves in all but the worst sickness. 
The catnip hung at the end of the row. 
Just a handful, mother had said. 

Hannah paused, in the dusky silence of 
the dimly lighted attic, to listen to the chil- 
dren playing in the street. How loudly 
they shouted ! Why, surely that was not 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 99 

play ! Some one was frightened ! Something 
had happened ! Was it — yes, she knew 
now the strange sound. It was the savage 
war-whoop. She heard it in the street be- 
low her, mingled with cries and screams, 
with rushing feet and wild clamor. 

One glance from the dusty window drove 
the little girl with white face and horrified 
eyes back into the darkest corner. And 
there she crouched, not daring to stir, until 
the wild noises grew fainter in the distance. 
Then the sting of smoke in her eyes, and the 
crackle of burning wood told of a new danger. 

With trembling footsteps she crept from 
her hiding-place, uncertain even now whether 
she should ever dare to venture down the 
stairs ; but lest she be burned in the fire 
she felt sure was beneath her feet, she found 
her way down. Around every corner she 
expected to meet the cruel face and clutching 
hand of a painted warrior. But no one 
stopped her, and she reached the kitchen, 
only to find it empty of all save the dense 



100 CAMP ANI> TRAIL 

gray smoke which choked her and drove her 
to the door. 

Outside the street was empty save for a 
straggHng Hne of breathless, frantic men, 
who even on the South Meadow had heard 
the awful sounds which meant death and 
destruction to their homes and loved ones. 
Hannah could see no savages, and she 
stumbled along until she reached her mother, 
lying across the path with the baby in her 
arms, — both dead, killed by a blow from 
the tomahawk of some Indian brave. 

With a wild cry, the little girl threw her- 
self down beside the mother who had loved 
her so tenderly ; and there the father found 
her, when, panting and spent with running, 
he reached the home he had left so con- 
fidently that morning. 

Sarah and Noah were gone. No trace 
could be found of them or of their playmates ; 
and as the grief-stricken father gathered the 
sad little remnant of his family together he 
hardly knew which seemed worse to him — 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND loi 

death, or captivity among the cruel red 
men. He thought of his faithful wife, — 
lost to him forever; of his little children, 
torn away from home and parents, dragged 
he knew not whither, nor to what end ! It 
seemed almost more than he could bear. 

It was a sad, sad day for Hatfield when 
the broken families were gathered and count 
was made of dead, wounded, and missing. 
Twelve had been killed, and the captives 
numbered seventeen. Among these were 
three women and one man. The rest were 
little children, none of them more than eight 
years old. 

Benjamin Wait had lost his wife and all 
his children, three little girls, the oldest 
only six; and he resolved that nothing but 
his own death should keep him from follow- 
ing the Indians and recovering the lost ones. 
How he succeeded we shall presently learn, 
but for the present we must go with the 
captives on their journey up through the 
valley. 



102 CAMP AND TRAIL 

It was a forlorn band, hurried along by 
the rough hands of their captors. Fright- 
ened children clung to their despairing 
mothers. Babies wailed, and motherless 
little ones stumbled along paths they could 
scarcely see for tears. By nightfall they 
had reached the neighborhood of Deerfield, 
one of the newest of the valley towns. It 
had been destroyed the year before by the 
Indians, and only a few days ago men had 
gone up from Hatfield to begin rebuilding 
their ruined houses. Three of these men 
and another eight-year-old were brought 
in to the Indian camp, and next morning 
the swift march northward was resumed. 

It was soon guessed by the captives that 
the Indians meant to take them to Canada. 
The Indians were friendly with the French, 
and hoped no doubt to sell the English in 
some French town for slaves. At this 
thought the last hope must have died in 
the weary mothers' hearts. How could their 
little ones endure the long journey through 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 103 

the pathless wilderness ? How could they 
themselves endure it ? 

They soon found that the march would 
be a long one, for the Indians had little food, 
and must stop to hunt and fish. Sometimes 
they would camp for several weeks near a 
good hunting ground or where fish were 
plenty. Then there would be food. But 
many times there was neither game nor fish, 
and both captor and captive felt the keen 
pangs of hunger. When they were in camp 
the white men and women were driven to 
do the heavy work, and when food was 
scarce, even the children were sent to hunt 
for roots and wintergreen berries in the woods. 

As the weather grew colder, suffering was 
increased. Shoes wore out, and feet grew 
lame and sore. After tramping along rough 
paths all day, often carrying a helpless child, 
the tired women must help the squaws with 
the camp work at night, until they could 
scarcely stagger from one task to the next. 

Some of the more delicate children fell ill. 



I04 CAMP AND TRAIL 

and the sight of their thin, pale faces filled 
their mothers with dread. Sometimes an 
Indian would pick up an exhausted child 
and carry it along a mile or two ; but at 
other times there were only harsh words and 
blows for the stragglers. Again, perhaps a 
squaw would take a fancy to one of the 
*' paleface pappooses," and would take it 
for her own, dressing it in Indian finery and 
warm skins. But the squaws had only scorn 
for the white women, because they could 
not endure the hardships that Indian women 
had been used to all their lives. 

Part of the journey was made on Lake 
Champlain in canoes. Then the weary 
march was taken up again, this time over 
snow and ice and in freezing weather. Two 
of the captive children grew so feeble that 
their impatient masters killed them rather 
than be troubled by them longer. The rest 
struggled on, and at last reached an Indian 
camp just outside a French town in Canada. 

Here they rested, at least from journeying, 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 105 

but they were still the slaves of their captors, 
and often felt the lash. A few were sold to 
French masters, for the people of the town 
were sorry for the wretched English, and 
were kind to them In many little ways. 
Sometimes the captives hoped that their 
friends at home would somehow send them 
aid, but they scarcely knew what they ex- 
pected, nor how aid could come. 

The Canadian winter was nearly half gone 
when two strangers entered the little French 
town, asking of the people whether there 
were Indians with English captives near. 
It would be too long a story to tell how 
Benjamin Wait had kept his resolution, and 
about his adventures with Stephen Jennings, 
another Hatfield man, on the long way from 
home. It is pleasant to be able to tell you 
that Goodman Wait found his goodwife and 
the three little girls, although they were 
so changed by toil and suffering, dirt and 
Indian garments, that he hardly knew them 
when he did find them. Stephen Jennings 



io6 CAMP AN© TRAIL 

too found his family. And together the 
two found the rest. 

It cost two hundred pounds, or nearly 
seven hundred dollars of our money, to buy 
the freedom of all the Hatfield captives, but 
when the company started for home only 
three were missing, and these were dead. 
And with them were two tiny babies, born 
in the little French town to Goodwife Wait 
and Goodwife Jennings. These two babies 
grew to womanhood bearing the names of 
Canada Wait and Captivity Jennings, in 
memory of the awful suffering of their 
mothers, in the midst of .which these children 
were born. 

It was spring when the homeward journey 
was begun. And what a different journey 
it was from the toilsome march up through 
the wilderness. Guided and guarded by a 
company of French soldiers, shielded and 
comforted by the steadfast men who had 
come to seek them, the little band set out 
for home. Their way led them through 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 107 

Lake Champlain and down the Hudson to 
Albany, nearly all the way in canoes. 

From Albany letters were sent to Hatfield, 
— the first news the people had received 
from the Indian sufferers since that awful 
day in September, eight months before; 
the first news too from Wait and Jennings, 
who had been gone nearly as long. 

There was great joy when the news was 
received ; and a day or two later the wan- 
derers reached home. It was a beautiful 
day in May, and half the townspeople went 
out through the South Gate to watch for 
the return. Goodman Coleman, with his 
two boys and little Hannah, waited anxiously 
for the little ones. When the company 
came in sight, what a shout went up ! On 
every face is joy, — and if on some the joy 
is shadowed by grief for those who are gone, 
it is joy nevertheless. Among all the happy 
ones, however, it seems that none can know 
the peace and happiness of the wanderers. 
Once more they see the familiar sights of 



io8 CAMP AND TRAIL 

home. The street, the meeting house, the 
river, the hills — each speaks of home. The 
waiting friends, the hearty greetings, the 
tender handclasp, tell of loving sympathy. 

The story of the capture and the rescue 
was told again and again. There were sad 
tales and joyous ones. Scarcely any of the 
company but still wore the fringed deerskins 
and the moccasins which told so plainly the 
story of their life in the woods. But little 
Sarah returned to her father's arms with 
her sturdy little feet still shod in the stout 
little shoes she wore out to her play that sad 
September day. 

The Indians never again attacked Hatfield. 
Other captives from other towns walked the 
long road to Canada, suffering as these had 
suffered. Some were rescued and brought 
back home. Others died ; and others still 
grew up with the savages and became savages 
themselves. But these Hatfield captives 
were the first. Long the people told the 
story and treasured relics of the sad winter 



VALLEY TOWN IN OLD NEW ENGLAND 109 

march. You may even see to-day, after 
two and a half centuries, carefully preserved, 
a mute reminder of the toilsome road — 
Sarah Coleman's stout little shoe. 



no 



CAMP AND TRAIL 




A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 



As you doubtless already know, no country 
in North America north of Mexico now be- 
longs to any but English-speaking people. 
Yet the story of early occupation by France 
and Spain and Holland is told us by the 
names they have left behind them, as surely 
as though we read about it in the histories. 

Florida, St. Augustine, San Francisco, 
Sacramento, Sierra Nevada, Santa Fe, all 
speak to us of Spain. 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE in 

Brooklyn (once spelled Breuckelen), Har- 
lem, Catskill, Flushing, Schenectady, Pough- 
keepsie, Yonkers, tell as certainly of Dutch 
days in old New York. 

And if we travel into Canada and about 
the Great Lakes, we shall find many traces 
of French rule — St. Lawrence, Montreal, 
Champlain, Richelieu, Sault Sainte Marie, 
Detroit, and almost countless names of 
smaller places. Down through the Missis- 
sippi Valley we shall find more French 
names, — Vincennes, Louisiana, New Or- 
leans, and many more. 

The Spanish names are found in Florida 
and the far west. The Dutch have left 
their traces only in one state. The English 
settlements were crowded along the Atlantic 
coast. But New France extended from the 
frozen lands of the far north to the sunny 
shores of the great Gulf of Mexico. While 
Spaniards sought for treasure, Dutchmen 
traded for furs, and Englishmen planted and 
sowed on New World soil, the French were 



112 CAMP ANI> TRAIL 

dreaming of a great empire, which should 
make France a power to be feared by all 
the world. Our story will tell us about one 
of the empire builders — Robert Cavelier 
de la Salle. 

Born in France, of rich but not noble 
family, young Robert Cavelier early showed 
signs of the greatness he afterward displayed. 
He was only twenty-three years old when 
he came to America, led by dreams of ad- 
venture and achievement. 

At twenty-three he was, as indeed he all 
his life remained, a man cold and proud and 
silent, making few friends, and caring little 
for friendship ; a man whose dreams no one 
shared, but whose dreams were the guiding 
stars of his life. He was brave and per- 
severing, and when he chose could show great 
tact in the management of men. But per- 
haps his most useful quality for the work 
he was to do was the iron determination, 
which pushed obstacles aside and allowed 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 113 

nothing to Interfere with his success. He 
has been called ''The Iron Man"; well he 
deserves the name. 

New France, when La Salle sought its 
shores, was a little more than a half century 
old. Its first successful settlement had been 
made at about the same time at which the 
English first succeeded in Virginia. For some 
years New France meant only Quebec ; and 
Quebec had the same story of want and 
hardship and suffering as all the settlements 
in the New World. From the first the fur 
trade brought almost the only income, and 
even now, after fifty years, it was the same. 
Great efforts had been made by the French 
king to build up the colony, and to induce 
the colonists to till the soil, but the reward 
of his efforts was slow in coming. There 
were trading posts and there were missions 
where faithful priests sought the salvation 
of savage souls. But there were few farms. 

Quebec is described in the middle of its 
first century as "a city which lacked nothing 



114 CAMP AND -TRAIL 

so much as people." It had built churches 
before it had worshippers, schools before it 
had scholars, hospitals before it had pa- 
tients. These things were all part of the 
king's plan to make conditions easy and 
attractive for the colonist. A part also of 
this plan provided for the gift of great es- 
tates to men who had means to improve 
them. These "seigneurs" in their turn 
granted small pieces of land to settlers, 
called "habitants." 

La Salle received one of these seigneuries, 
not far from the struggling settlement at 
Montreal. He had little money, but he set 
to work on his new domain, and in what 
leisure he could command he learned to 
understand and speak the language of seven 
or eight Indian tribes. 

From the first he got on well with the 
Indians, and it was his delight to talk with 
them, asking questions about the unknown 
country to the west and south. By this 
time the wonderful chain of Great Lakes 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 115 

had been found, and French voyagers had 
travelled over much of the northern 
wilderness. 

The Indians told La Salle wonderful tales 
of a great river rising in their country, but 
flowing southward on and on to the sea — 
a distance which would require many moons 
to cover, even in swift canoes. La Salle 
determined to find this river, and his dreams 
pictured a great waterway which he should 
secure for France. 

If the river flowed into the Pacific, it would 
give the passage to China and Japan which 
all the world was seeking. If it flowed 
south into the Gulf of Mexico, it would pro- 
vide an outlet for French trade to waters 
open all the year. 

La Salle was fortunate in interesting the 
governor of New France in his plans. The 
governor. Count Frontenac, was in many 
ways like La Salle himself, and in him La 
Salle made one of his rare friends. Fron- 
tenac did all he could to help in the great 



ii6 CAMP ANI> TRAIL 

undertaking, and encouraged his friend in 
every way. 

The first step was taken in the building 
of a fort at the outlet of Lake Ontario. This 
would serve as a trading post to which the 
Indians might bring their furs, and with the 
aid of a vessel to be built would command 
the lake itself. Frontenac's meeting at this 
spot with a large company of Iroquois Ind- 
ians is full of interest. Every detail of 
the meeting was carefully arranged to im- 
press the red men with the power of the 
French. The marching soldiers and their 
gorgeous uniforms called forth astonished 
and admiring exclamations, which was just 
what the governor had intended. In the 
council to which he invited them, the chiefs 
were met with great ceremony. Frontenac 
made them a long speech, in which he some- 
times flattered them and sometimes threat- 
ened ; he seemed always to know the right 
word to say. 

Pointing to the soldiers, the boats, the 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 117 

cannon, he said, ''If your Father (meaning 
the King of France) can come so far, with 
so great a force, through such dangerous 
rapids, merely to make you a visit of pleas- 
ure and friendship, what would he do if you 
should awaken his anger, and make it neces- 
sary for him to punish his disobedient chil- 
dren ? — Beware how you offend him." 

The fort now nearly finished he told them 
was a proof of his fatherly love for them. 
It was a storehouse where they might obtain 
the goods they needed without travelling 
far in their canoes. 

The stolid warriors smoked their pipes in 
silence, but Frontenac won their friendship 
by his clever words. The next step after 
the completion of the fort was to obtain the 
king's permission to explore farther to the 
south. For this purpose Frontenac sent La 
Salle to France. King Louis listened to the 
plans of the bold adventurer, and was glad 
enough to approve them. What could be 
better than to gain the rich river valley and 



ii8 CAMP AND TRAIL 

to control the river itself, — a highroad to 
the sea ? Who would not permit a willing 
subject to *' labor at the discovery of the 
western parts of New France" with such an 
end in sight ? 

La Salle therefore returned with the royal 
permit for which he had asked. He was made 
seigneur over a large tract of land surrounding 
the fort on Lake Ontario, which he had named 
Fort Frontenac. He was to explore and 
build other forts where they were necessary 
in his work. 

These were the days of great dreams. 
La Salle could see already in his mind the 
Mississippi Valley, dotted with homes of 
happy and contented Frenchmen, who should 
till the rich soil and send shiploads of their 
produce down the river to the markets of 
the world. He could see long lines of Indian 
canoes, loaded with beaver skins and buffalo 
hides, darting swiftly along the river branches 
and into the great stream, to be unloaded at 
his trading posts. He could see a great grim 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 119 

fortress where the river met the sea, which 
should speak to Spaniards of French power 
they could not hope to break. And with it 
all who can wonder if he saw glory and power 
and gold for Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la 
Salle, who had wrought this magic for France 
and for the king. 

These were his dreams, but they were still 
afar off; and La Salle at once attacked the 
gigantic task before him. The king had 
found colony-making expensive, and had 
given La Salle nothing more than his gracious 
permission to "labor at discovery." The 
first need was therefore money. 

La Salle succeeded in borrowing from many 
sources. If he succeeded, the money invested 
would bring great profit to all concerned. 
If he failed, he would be left with a great 
burden of debt to pay. Therefore he must 
succeed. 

With him on his return from France came 
Henri de Tonty, from this time to the end of 
La Salle's life always a faithful and devoted 



I20 CAMP AND TRAIL 

friend ; and Father Hennepin, a priest whose 
dreams of adventure could be satisfied only 
by seeing for himself the strange sights of the 
New World wilderness. 

La Salle's plan was to build a vessel which 
should carry both men and supplies through 
the Great Lakes to the river basin. The 
Indians told stories of great waterfalls between 
Lake Ontario and Lake Erie ; so it was 
decided to build the vessel on the latter lake. 
An advance party went to select a suitable 
place for the shipbuilding. With them went 
Father Hennepin, and it is to him we are 
indebted for the first description of Niagara 
Falls. 

Not long after entering the Niagara River 
the current became so strong that they could 
no longer force the canoe against it. Land- 
ing therefore they travelled along the snowy 
shore. As they went on they heard more and 
more plainly the noise of falling waters, 
until at length the great cataract was in sight. 
''Thunder of waters," the Indians called it. 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 121 

and Hennepin describes it as " a most beauti- 
ful and at the same time most frightful 
cascade." 

Above the falls a place was selected for the 
building operations, and work was begun. 
First there must be a fort, but it was slow 
work to drive stakes for the palisade in mid- 
winter. The frozen ground often had to be 
thawed with boiling water. Sullen and 
jealous Indians from a neighboring Iroquois 
village watched the work, while at times it 
appeared as though they would not let it go 
on. The Iroquois had no desire to see French- 
men in control of their fur trade from the 
lakes. 

La Salle, who always managed Indians 
with skill, succeeded in getting permission 
to build his "fortified storehouse" and his 
great "wooden canoe." As the size of the 
wooden canoe began to be seen, however, the 
Indians became alarmed. Once they planned 
to burn it, and a close watch had to be kept. 

La Salle's first misfortune was the loss of 



122 CAMP AND TRAIL 

the food and supplies he had sent from Fort 
Frontenac to Niagara. Because of this loss 
La Salle set out on foot for Fort Frontenac 
and was gone from early spring to midsummer. 
Before his return the vessel was ready to 
launch. Both Indians and Frenchmen as- 
sembled for the occasion, and amid the boom 
of cannon, the hymns of the priests, and the 
shouts of the Indians, the little vessel slipped 
from the ways into the river. 

Upon La Salle's return, the lake voyage 
began ; across Lake Erie, through the Detroit 
River and Lake Huron, the little vessel, 
which had been named the Griffin^ ploughed its 
way. At the head of Lake Michigan, the 
French mission and trading post at Michili- 
mackinac was reached. La Salle, in a fine 
cloak of scarlet and gold, landed with all his 
crew. They were greeted by a crowd of 
Indians and French woodsrangers, who es- 
corted them to the little bark chapel, where 
the priests of the mission said mass. Almost 
immediately La Salle resumed his voyage, 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 123 

stopping at Green Bay, where he found hunt- 
ers whom he had sent ahead to gather furs. 

By this time La Salle's debts were great, 
and he determined to send the Griffin back to 
Niagara with a load of furs to be sold. He, 
with the larger part of the men, would con- 
tinue the voyage in canoes until the Griffin 
should rejoin them at the southern end of 
the lake. 

The Griffin turned back, and the canoes 
pressed forward. But scarcely had they 
parted when furious storms broke over the 
lake. The waves washed over the canoes, 
loaded heavily with supplies. With great 
difficulty the men got them to the shore. 
Again and again the storms came, driving 
the company to days of huddling about 
sputtering fires of half-soaked driftwood ; to 
nights in which the only shelter from wind 
and rain was rain-soaked blankets. Some- 
times they were without food, but whenever 
the weather would permit, they launched 
the canoes and paddled southward. 



124 CAMP ANO TRAIL 

After a time the weather improved, game 
grew plentiful, and at the approach of winter 
the party had reached the point where the 
Griffin was to join them. But alas ! the 
Griffin never came. The same storms which 
had almost destroyed the men had probably 
sent her to the bottom of the lake, and with 
her the furs from which La Salle had hoped so 
much. 

But still La Salle pressed on. A short 
overland journey brought him with the 
canoes to the head of the Illinois River. 
Launching the canoes where the stream was 
so narrow that a man could almost step 
across, they followed its winding course 
through miles of boundless prairie. At last 
they reached the country of the Illinois 
Indians, and were kindly received. La Salle 
asked them, as he had asked the Iroquois, 
to consent to the building of a fort and a 
great wooden canoe. The Illinois agreed, 
but later tried to frighten the Frenchmen by 
stories of the dangers of the lower course of 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 125 

the great river. There were fierce savages, 
serpents, alligators, and unnatural monsters. 
There were rocks and whirlpools, and at last 
a fathomless gulf into which the vessel would 
plunge and be lost forever. 

La Salle went calmly on with his prepara- 
tions, although the tales of the Indians cost 
him six men, whose fright led them to desert 
him. The fort was built, the vessel begun. 
It was long before La Salle had given up hope 
of the return of the Griffin with the needed 
supplies. When he did give up, there seemed 
only one way to get the help he must have, 
and that way was beset with terrors and hard- 
ship. He must go himself on foot to Fort 
Frontenac. And this he did, with five com- 
panions, leaving Tonty with about a dozen 
men to await his return. 

We wonder at the endurance and the iron 
will of this man, who in little more than two 
months travelled a thousand miles in Ice, 
snow, and every sort of peril. Reaching 
Fort Frontenac he found only discourage- 



126 CAMP AND. TRAIL 

ment. Those whom he owed and could not 
pay had seized his property. A ship from 
France bringing a heavy cargo of his goods 
was lost. And while he was making ready 
to return to Tonty and his men, a message 
from Tonty told him that the discontented 
ones had destroyed the fort, thrown into the 
river arms, ammunition, and supplies, and 
had taken to the woods. 

The work must be given up, or La Salle 
must begin again at the very beginning. 
This, being the man he was, he chose to do. 

First of all, he must carry help to Tonty 
and the handful of faithful men with him. 
With twenty-five men he set out and travelled 
rapidly to the Illinois country. A scene of 
desolation met his eyes. Where the pros- 
perous Indian village had been was only 
solitude and destruction. Coming nearer, 
it was clear that the Illinois had been at- 
tacked and destroyed. This was no doubt 
the work of the Iroquois. 

There was no sign of Tonty or the men. 



A STORY OF NEW FRANCE 127 

and though La Salle searched faithfully for 
them, it was months before he found them 
safe at Michilimackinac. Together, the loved 
commander and the trusted lieutenant made 
new preparations and embarked once more 
to follow the great river to its mouth. 

Down the Illinois, past shores which called 
up sad and painful memories, they glided, 
until their canoes emerged upon the broad 
stream of which they had heard so much. 
Now, day by day, they left the land of ice 
and snow, and drew nearer to a country of 
sunshine and flowers. They found gentle, 
friendly Indians, in whose villages they raised 
crosses bearing the arms of France. 

Mile after mile they followed the winding 
river until they reached the sea. And here 
with all pomp and ceremony, amid the sing- 
ing of hymns, volleys of musketry, and shouts 
of "Viv le Roi," La Salle took possession of 
"Louisiana" for his master King Louis, far 
away in France. The Louisiana of La Salle 
was a mighty empire in itself, stretching from 



128 CAMP ANIJ TRAIL 

northern lakes to tropic seas. And La Salle's 
fame was secure. 

This is the great moment of La Salle's 
life, and here let us leave him, with the sun 
of glorious achievement shining on his un- 
covered head. Ere long the clouds of strug- 
gle and disappointment and disaster will 
shut him in again. The colony he leads from 
France to the Gulf Shore will be lost on a 
strange coast. There will be discontent and 
bitterness. There will be plots and finally 
murder. And the brave leader will fall. 
The power and glory of which he dreamed 
will not be his. So let us leave him, where 
the Mississippi seeks the sea, claiming the 
mighty basin for his king, — ''most high, 
mighty, invincible, and victorious prince, 
Louis the Great, by the Grace of God King of 
France and Navarre." 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 129 




PETER THE HEADSTRONG 



Annetje Van Varick was a little Dutch 
girl. She had never seen Holland, the coun- 
try of the Dutch, but lived happily with her 
father and mother and her little brother Jan 
in the New World city called New Amster- 
dam. 

The sun, rising round and red over the 
hills of near-by Long Island one morning in 
November, 1663, peeped in at Annetje's 
small-paned window and wakened her from 
sleep. Just as she opened her eyes to wonder 
what had roused her, the cow-herd's horn 



130 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

sounded in three loud blasts ; and Annetje 
knew that it was time to rise. 

"Jan," she called softly to her sleeping 
brother, "the cow-herd calls. Open thy lazy 
eyes and dress thyself." 

The merry jangle of the cow bells made 
music for the children's ears, as they hastily 
laid aside their long-caped night caps and their 
gowns, and took up the task of getting dressed 
for the day. 

A gay little Dutchman was Jan, as in baggy 
trousers, yellow stockings, and scarlet jacket, 
he trudged sturdily down the stairs to the 
kitchen. And Annetje, with stockings of 
blue, many bright petticoats, and sleeves of 
red and yellow, must have looked like the 
tulips in her own summer garden. 

The iire in the huge fireplace was already 
blazing when the children reached the kitchen, 
and the "vrouw" was bustling about, cook- 
ing the breakfast. The sausages were sput- 
tering over the fire, filling the room with 
appetizing odors. The table was spread with 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 131 

the whitest of linen, and the pewter plates 
caught the bright light from the fire on their 
shining faces. Annetje hastened to bring 
the rye bread and to grate the cheese ; while 
the mother served steaming porridge from 
the kettle and little Jan pushed the chairs 
about the table. 

The kitchen was a cheery place even in the 
early light of the autumn morning. Opposite 
the fireplace stood the dresser, with its rows 
of pewter and the silver tankards that had 
come from Holland. A hanging plate rack 
held blue china from Delfthaven and red 
Portuguese earthenware. On another wall 
hung the father's rack of slender, long- 
stemmed pipes. The floor, scrubbed clean 
and white, was sprinkled with still whiter 
sand from the near-by shore. Everywhere 
was warmth and comfort. 

The goodman of the house, round of person, 
and round and red of face as the sun behind 
the morning hills, ate his sausages and drank 
his beer in calm content. Then, lighting his 



132 CAMP AND TRAIL 

favorite pipe, he put on his broad-brimmed 
beaver hat, and walked leisurely forth to 
his day's labor at trading on the waterfront. 

A ship loading for old Amsterdam in 
Holland would carry Mynheer Van Varick's 
tobacco, grain, and furs to be sold in Dutch 
markets. He must oversee the loading of 
the cargo. No doubt also there would be 
Indians paddling down the river with boat 
loads of beaver skins, with whom he must 
make bargains. And daily he expected a 
shipload of goods from Holland. 

The housemother, meanwhile, took up her 
busy round of duties. The Dutch housewife 
had few idle minutes. With brewing and 
baking, spinning and weaving, she lived the 
same sort of life as the Puritan housewife 
of New England. 

Jan and Annetje had their own little tasks, 
of which they loved none better than feeding 
the geese. Such silly things they were, wad- 
dling solemnly in long lines about the dooryard, 
and then down the town street to the water-side. 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 133 

^^See, Annetje, the gray gander walks just 
like 'Old Silverleg,' " cried Jan. And with 
feet spread wide he strutted along behind the 
flock. 

''Hush, Jan," said Annetje; "it is wrong 
to speak so of the governor. His leg was lost 
in battle, so he must be brave. And I think 
he is good, too, even though his temper be 
hasty. Only bad children mock at his 
wooden leg." 

Jan paid little heed to this warm defence of 
Governor Peter Stuyvesant, for he had his 
own notion of the quick-tempered old man, 
whom he saw almost daily stumping by in 
his walks about town. It is true he would 
scarcely have dared to mock and laugh had his 
elders been about, and I am certain that if 
the stout old governor had himself appeared 
in the neighborhood, Jan would have suddenly 
frozen into a perfect image of an awestruck 
Dutch infant. 

"Come, Jan," coaxed Annetje, "I know 
the frost last night has opened the chestnut 



134 



CAMP AND TRAIL 



burs. Get a basket and we will walk up 
beyond the land gate and into the woods." 
So the two trudged off, by the steep-roofed 
houses of gay Dutch tile, with their garden 

patches now with- 
ered and brown. 

The children were 
not the only people 
in the Dutch colony 
who found ''Old 
Silverleg" an inter- 
esting and sometimes 
perplexing study. 
But most of them, 
like Jan, preferred to 
express their opin- 
ions of him when he 
was not present. 
Peter the Headstrong, he was sometimes 
called, because he was so fond of having his 
own way. Indeed he made things very un- 
comfortable and sometimes exciting when he 
was opposed. Once when a man threatened 




^J<crrc/kofpfjP/et 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 135 

to appeal from his decision to the government 
in Holland, the governor shouted, "If any 
man tries to appeal from me I will make him 
a foot shorter, pack the pieces off to Holland, 
and let him appeal in that fashion." 

But the old governor had his good points 
after all. He was brave, as Annetje had 
said, and with all his temper he wished the 
people well. Indeed, he could be very kind, 
so long as no one interfered with his plans 
or disobeyed his commands. He had been 
governor now for more than fifteen years, 
and the people were far better off than when 
he came. But many of them longed for a 
chance to decide things for themselves, instead 
of being treated like Peter Stuyvesant's 
naughty children. 

The governor also was not without his 
troubles. The English who had settled New 
England were crowding close to the Dutch 
settlements on the east ; while on the south, 
more English were pressing the Dutch villages 
on the Delaware. The governor feared that 



136 CAMP AND. TRAIL 

the English would try to take New Amster- 
dam. He worried about it, but no one else 
seemed to worry. And no doubt the worry 
made his tongue sharper and his temper more 
uncertain than ever. 

The people of New Amsterdam enjoyed 
life more than their stern Puritan neighbors, 
it seemed. Even their clothes, as we have 
seen, were gay in color; and they loved to 
make merry in their homes and among their 
neighbors. In the late afternoon, work was 
laid aside, and for an hour before supper there 
were neighborhood visits, gossip, and good 
cheer. 

Annetje loved to listen to the conversation 
of her mother's friends at these afternoon 
visits. Their knitting needles clicked busily 
as they talked, and the little girl, who had 
her own knitting, tried to pretend that she 
too was a housemother, and could knit as 
fast as they. To-day they were talking about 
her Cousin Maddaleen, who was soon to be 
married. Such a chest of linen ! and such 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 137 

fine petticoats and caps ! She was a lucky 
maiden, they all agreed, to have so much 
done for her. There was a beautiful cup- 
board, too, with a whole set of pewter plates, 
on the way from Holland, sent by her grand- 
father who was burgomaster, and had many 
guilders. 

Annetje looked from one to another of the 
visitors. She tried to decide whether she 
liked better the green petticoat Vrouw Wessell 
was wearing, or the scarlet one her own mother 
had put on that day for the first time. She 
wished that St. Nicholas would bring her a 
pair of silver buckles for her shoes like those 
that Vrouw Petersen wore, or a silver chain 
to hang from her girdle, holding her little 
round pincushion and her scissors. Then she 
found herself singing under her breath, as her 
needles clicked, the song of Dutch children : 

" Saint Nicholas, my dear, good friend, 
To serve you ever was my end ; 
If you me something now will give, 
Serve you I will while I shall live." 



138 



CAMP ANDT TRAIL 



Nearly two months had passed by before 
the day of St. Nicholas came. Then the little 
Dutch children hung up their stockings at 
night just as many little children do to-day. 
Jan and Annetje hung theirs 
by the fireplace where the jolly 
saint would come down, and 
they begged their mother to 
cover the fire deep with ashes 
lest the chimney should be too 
hot for the good man. 

Then they trotted off to bed ; 
the night was cold, and the 
children crept shivering beneath 
the blankets. But the good 
mother had been before them 
with the warming pan, and now 
she laid over them the soft 
warm feather bed that would keep them snug 
and warm. And so they slept till Christmas 
morning. 

On Christmas Day the parlor was opened, 
and a fire built in the tiled fireplace. The 




Warming Pan 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 139 

parlor was the dearest possession of the Dutch 
housewife, and the children felt far less at 
home there than in the roomy kitchen. But 
they loved to look at the pictures on the blue 
and white tiles around the fireplace. Every 
picture illustrated a Bible story. There was 
Joseph among his brethren ; above were 
Jonah and the whale ; on the other side, Noah, 
with the ark and a long procession of animals. 

The children looked long at every one, and 
gazed with awe at the great four-post bed of 
which their mother was so proud. Here were 
the softest of the feather beds, and the finest 
of the homespun linen. Jan sometimes had 
a wicked desire to jump into the very middle 
of its soft whiteness, but it would have been a 
very brave as well as a very bad little Dutch 
boy who would have dared that particular 
form of evil-doing. 

To-day, as many times before, the children 
were glad to run back to the kitchen chimney 
corner, to play with the toys they had found 
•that morning in their stockings. Their father 



140 CAMP AND TRAIL 

had gone early with the young men to the 
Common beyond the Land Gate for the 
"turkey shoot." There every Christmas 
morning a row of fat turkeys was hung on a 
high pole, and the young men used them for 
targets. The winners carried the turkeys 
home for dinner, amid the shouts and laughter 
of their friends. 

Christmas was a merry day in New Amster- 
dam ; there were bowling games, and a 
fine dinner in every kitchen, and a dance in 
the evening for the young folks, at the gover- 
nor's house. Annetje heard all about that 
next day from Cousin Maddaleen, who had 
been there. The house was gayly lighted 
with many candles, and at the head of the 
great hall stood the governor and his goodwife 
to receive the guests and watch the dancing. 

The governor wore his coat of blue velvet 
with the silver buttons, darker blue breeches, 
and a huge silver buckle on his one low shoe. 
The silver bands on his wooden leg seemed 
quite in keeping with the rest of his costume. 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 141 

His lady was gayer still in petticoats of stiff 
scarlet silk, with a blue waist and head-dress. 
And the guests were like a very rainbow for 
color. 

The dancing went on till very late, Cousin 
Maddaleen said. It was after ten, surely, 
before the candles in the big house went out. 

Until after New Year's the townspeople 
went on making holiday, and it was very gay. 
Jan cared more, however, for the coasting and 
skating of the winter time than for other 
merrymaking. All day he would go trudging 
up and flying down the nearest hill, coming 
in as rosy as the winter apples stored in his 
mother's cellar. 

Annetje loved the springtime better than 
the winter. Then everybody sat on the porch 
or ^^ stoop" in the afternoon, and the street 
was gay with gossip and laughter. Annetje 
would hasten with her spinning . and other 
indoor work, so that she might take her 
knitting to the stoop early and watch the 
lively scene. Then when the knitting was 



142 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

done she would run about with other little 
girls and boys, playing games and having 
the merriest kind of time. 

There was much gossip during the winter 
and spring about the English settlements on 
either side of the Dutch colony. Annetje 
heard her father talking with his neighbors 
as they smoked their pipes together. The 
Connecticut towns claimed land across the 
continent to the Pacific Ocean, she heard one 
of the men say. And when another asked, 
'* Where then does New Netherland come 
in ?" the first could only shrug his shoulders 
and offer the opinion that Englishmen cared 
little whether or not it came in at all. 

Then there was trouble on Long Island, 
where many English had settled in the 
eastern towns. The governor was more than 
ever worried. He had asked the government 
in Holland to send him soldiers and supplies. 
" Without them," he said, "it is wholly out of 
our power to keep the sinking ship afloat any 
longer." 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 143 




Annetje heard her father talking with his neighbors as they smoked 
their pipes together." 



144 CAMP AND TRAIL 

There was really reason for worry, if the 
governor had known all that was going on. 
King Charles of England had determined to 
have the island of Manhattan and the Dutch 
colony for his own. If England and Holland 
were at war, he might attack and conquer it. 
They were at peace. But what of that, 
thought King Charles. He would conquer it 
anyway. If the Dutch wanted to go to war 
about it, let them do so. So he very quietly 
made his preparations, and soon a fleet of 
warships was on its way across the Atlantic. 

Stuyvesant had few men and fewer guns 
with which to resist attack, and worse than 
that, many of the honest burghers of New 
Amsterdam were tired of *^ headstrong Peter" 
and his fiery temper, so that they cared little 
whether he and the government behind him 
could hold the town or not. 

It was in April that the fleet left England, 
but no one seemed to know just where the 
vessels were going. Stuyvesant was uneasy, 
but when the fleet entered Boston harbor 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 145 

and lingered there a month, he was relieved. 
One day late in August, however, the English 
ships quietly appeared in the harbor at New 
Amsterdam. The old governor's fears had 
at last come true. 

Peter the Headstrong was also Peter the 
Brave ; and he had never a thought of giving 
up the town even to more than twice the 
number of men he could muster, and six times 
as many guns. He prepared to fight. 

Colonel NicoUs, commander of the fleet, 
brought his vessels to anchor, and sent a 
message to Stuyvesant, demanding the sur- 
render of the town. Stuyvesant refused, 
and Colonel NicoUs replied that he must 
then fire upon the Dutch. 

The people of New Amsterdam were filled 
with fear. Many of the burghers called upon 
the governor to give up, since he could never 
hope to win in fight. But Peter the Head- 
strong was never truer to the name than on 
this occasion. He stamped up and down, 
growing angrier every minute. 



146 CAMP AND TRAIL 

A letter was brought in from the English 
fleet. Colonel Nicolls offered kindness and 
protection to every Dutchman in the colony. 
He might live unmolested, and pursue his 
trade with Holland undisturbed. 

The governor read the letter aloud to the 
group of men in the room. More than ever 
they counselled surrender. But Peter would 
not ! They asked to have the letter read to 
the crowd already gathered in the street 
outside. But that also Peter would not ! 
and to make sure he tore the letter into 
fragments and threw them on the floor ! 

At this news the people outside were angry 
in their turn, and there were hisses and threats 
from the street below. The governor, chok- 
ing with rage, stumped into an inner room, 
slamming the door ; while his nephew Nicholas 
picked up the scattered scraps of paper, 
pieced together the letter, and read it to the 
excited people. 

For once Peter the Headstrong was not to 
have his way. The people had their way. 



PETER THE HEADSTRONG 147 

and the stern old governor sadly saw the 
English soldiers land, and fly the English flag 
where the Dutch banner had floated for more 
than fifty years. 

'^I would rather be carried to my grave," 
he said. But it is pleasant to know that, 
once his anger had cooled and his sorrow had 
been healed by time, he lived happily for 
nearly twenty years on his "bowerie" or 
farm beyond the town. And more than that, 
Colonel Nicolls, who had compelled his sur- 
render and who became the first English 
governor of the colony, became also Stuyve- 
sant's valued friend. Many a good dinner 
did they enjoy together, and many a pipe 
did they smoke in the garden of the bowerie 
house, as the years went on. 

The New Amsterdam of early days has 
become the great city we call New York. 
Annetje's great, great, great, great grand- 
children may be living there to-day. If they 
are they call themselves Americans, yet they 
point with pride to their Dutch ancestors of 



148 CAMP AND TRAIL 

long ago. Turn where we will in the great 
city, we find Dutch names and reminders of 
the early times. The Dutch rule was short, 
but long enough to leave traces on country 
and people that have lasted until now. 

Thrifty, happy, prosperous Dutchmen ! you 
make a bright and pleasant picture in the 
midst of the early New World wilderness ! 
We welcome you among the founders of our 
land. 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY 149 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY 

Before the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
tury the colony founded at Jamestown in 
Virginia had passed its harder days, and was 
growing rich and strong. Broad tobacco 
fields extended back along the rivers, and by 
1650 there were twenty thousand people in 
the colony. 

Almost from the beginning, the Virginians 
had been allowed a part in making their laws. 
Their House of Burgesses was made up of 
men elected by the people to represent them 
as lawmakers ; and many times these repre- 
sentatives forced the governors sent from 
England to respect the rights of the people. 

A little before the middle of the century, 
when the colony was thirty-five years old, 
Sir William Berkeley was sent out from Eng- 
land to be the "royal governor" of Virginia. 
At that time he was a man of early middle 



I50 CAMP ^D TRAIL 

age, with fine education, rich garments, and 
courtly manners. He lived in luxury at 
Green Spring, his large estate near James- 
town. Here were his stables of fine horses, 
more than seventy in number. Here were 
scores of servants, and all the accompani- 
ments of fine living. Here in the stately 
dining room were served splendid dinners to 
many guests. There were gay entertainments 
of all sorts. It was like a little royal court. 

The people of Virginia enjoyed all this fine 
show. It made their life, so lately hard and 
joyless, pleasant and like the life in England, 
which they still called ^'home." But the 
time came when they were not always pleased 
with Governor Berkeley after all. Though 
his manners were courtly, his heart sometimes 
seemed hard. 

The king who had sent Berkeley to Virginia 
was soon in the midst of a great struggle for 
his throne. Thousands of his people went to 
war against him, and after years of fighting 
he was captured and put to death. Then 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY 151 

the victorious party resolved that England 
should have no more kings. 

The king's friends, who were called Cava- 
liers, were many of them afraid to stay in 
England among their enemies, and hundreds 
of them sailed across the sea to Virginia. 
Here they found Berkeley, a king's man 
himself, and the people, who had loved King 
Charles, glad to welcome them, and they 
added much to the strength of the colony. 

For eleven years the resolution to have no 
king was kept, and during that time Governor 
Berkeley was deprived of his power. But in 
1660 the dead king's son was joyfully wel- 
comed by his followers to the throne of Eng- 
land. And Sir William Berkeley became 
royal governor once more. 

Berkeley was growing old. His sympathy 
for the people and his respect for their rights 
grew less and less with his advancing years. 
He drove away from the colony all whose 
religion was unlike that of the Church of 
England. He took away the right of voting 



152 CAMP AND TRAIL 

from men who owned no property in the 
colony. He was harsh in carrying out the 
laws made in England to regulate trade. 

The people grew restless and resentful of 
the governor's acts. They looked forward 
to electing new members for the House of 
Burgesses, who would vote against the laws 
they believed unjust. But the shrewd old 
governor was quite satisfied to keep the House 
of Burgesses as it was, and he would allow 
no election. For sixteen years the patience of 
the people was tried in this way, and the 
old governor grew more and more of a tyrant 
every year. 

With all their other troubles the people of 
the farther plantations were suffering from 
Indian raids. Every now and then some 
dreadful story of murder and scalping would 
startle the quiet planters. The smoke of 
burning buildings would tell of some lonely 
plantation attacked and its people scattered 
or destroyed. The settlers grew more and 
more fearful. They asked the governor to 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY 



153 



allow them to form a company to go out and 
seek the red men, and fight for the defense of 
the colony. 

Berkeley would not give them the permis- 
sion they asked. Instead he put them off 




"The people of the farther plantations were suffering from Indian 

raids." 



with vague promises, and tried to make the 
people believe that building forts at James- 
town would protect the scattered plantations 
of the back counties. 

People openly accused Berkeley of fearing 



154 CAMP AND TRAIL 

to destroy his fur trade with the Indians if 
he sent a force against them. He cared little 
for the lives of the people, they said, and much 
for his own profits. They talked also of the 
other wrongs Berkeley had made them suffer. 
Between his tyranny and the trade laws made 
in England, the Virginians felt that they had 
almost more than they could bear. 

Among the discontented planters none was 
more outspoken than young Nathaniel Bacon. 
He was one of the prominent men of the 
colony, popular with neighboring planters, 
and himself a resident of an outlying and 
exposed district. With danger at his very 
door. Bacon urged upon the people the need 
of action, and loudly berated the governor. 

At length, irritated beyond endurance, the 
men of the back counties took matters into 
their own hands, and asked Bacon to lead them, 
whether the governor agreed or not. Bacon 
accepted the command they oifered him, de- 
claring that upon the very next outrage they 
would march, *' commission or no commission." 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY 155 

Almost immediately the "next outrage" 
occurred, on Bacon's own plantation, where 
two men were murdered by prowling savages. 
Swiftly the news spread, and from every side 
galloping horses brought determined men at 
Bacon's call. Soon five hundred had gathered, 
awaiting only the word to go forth upon their 
errand of vengeance. 

One last effort was made to gain the gover- 
nor's consent ; and the eager company waited 
day after day for his reply to Bacon's re- 
quest. No answer came. Then it was de- 
cided to take up the march ; and on the eve 
of departure Bacon stood before the men and 
in a stirring speech reviewed the grievances 
the people had endured. 

He spoke of Virginia's trade, once mighty, 
now dying, — almost dead ; of the tobacco 
fields, which there was no longer any profit 
in planting, since the people were prevented 
from selling what they raised. He spoke 
of the heavy taxes, lately increased for the 
building of the river forts ; of the law for- 



IS6 CAMP AND TRAIL 

bidding men without estates to vote ; and of 
the sixteen years which had passed since the 
people had been allowed to elect new members 
for the House of Burgesses. And now, he 
went on, the people must not even protect 
themselves against the cruel horrors of savage 
hate. Nor would the governor protect them, 
— they must sit down, it would seem, meekly 
awaiting the tomahawk and scalping knife. 
Were Virginians slaves, he asked, that they 
should be treated thus 1 And we can hear 
the deep-throated shouts of ''No! No!" 
coming back from the crowd before him. 

Then the march was begun, and news soon 
found its way to Berkeley that Bacon had 
indeed taken the matter into his own hands, 
"commission or no commission." The gov- 
ernor was furiously angry. He proclaimed 
Bacon a rebel, a traitor, and more than that 
he hastily summoned a few companies of 
militia, marching away with them to arrest 
Bacon and to scatter his force. 

Scarcely, however, had the governor turned 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY 157 

his back upon Jamestown, when he heard 
that the people all about the town and coun- 
tryside were rising to demand their rights. 
Indeed Virginia seemed suddenly peopled 
with rebels and traitors of the same sort as 
Bacon. The governor could only return to 
this new problem ; and returning, he found 
only one way to settle it, — to give in at 
once to the demand for a new House of 
Burgesses. This he therefore did. 

Bacon had meanwhile been at his work 
in the forests against the savages. He now 
returned, to find himself elected by the 
people of his county to represent them in the 
House of Burgesses. 

Again the governor was angry, almost 
beyond words. The man whom he had 
publicly proclaimed rebel and traitor, — to 
take a place among the lawmakers of the 
colony ! But Berkeley hardly dared anger 
the people too far ; so he pretended to for- 
give Bacon, after he had made the young 
man kneel before him in the House of Bur- 



158 CAMP ANET TRAIL 

gesses, and ask for pardon. The pretended 
forgiveness, however, covered Berkeley's real 
purpose to seize Bacon on the old charge of 
rebellion. 

Learning this. Bacon fled at night, and soon 
gathered his men once more. This time they 
marched, not to the forests, but straight to 
Jamestown. Here they halted on the State- 
house green, and Bacon sent word to Berkeley 
that he had come for his commission. 

Then the rage which had filled the gover- 
nor's breast so long reached its climax. 
Rushing out from the Statehouse, he appeared 
before the men drawn up in silent ranks upon 
the green. ''Here," he shouted, tearing open 
his ruffled shirt and baring his breast, ''Here, 
shoot me ! 'fore God, a fair mark ! shoot !" 

"No," said Bacon, quietly but firmly, 
"No, your Honor, we will not hurt a hair of 
your head, nor of any other man's. We are 
come for a commission to save our lives from 
the Indians, and now we will have it before 
we go !" 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY 159 

Gladly would Berkeley have fought to 
maintain his rights, or what he believed to 
be his rights. But he could find scarcely a 
handful of men who would stand with him 
against the demand of Bacon's army, en- 
camped within the town. The House of 
Burgesses, the Governor's Council, the militia, 
the townspeople, all followed Bacon. Sadly 
against his will, Berkeley signed the much- 
demanded commission. Nor did he inter- 
fere with the new laws which were now passed 
by the House of Burgesses. These laws have 
often been called "Bacon's laws," and were 
all directed toward righting the wrongs the 
people had suffered. 

Bacon, now a general by virtue of his hard- 
won commission, turned again to the forest. 
And Berkeley, relieved of his presence in the 
town, hastened to take back every privilege 
he had granted, to declare Bacon once more 
a traitor, and to set a price upon his head. 

Again Bacon turned back, and this time the 
governor fled, leaving Bacon to quiet posses- 



i6o CAMP AN© TRAIL 

sion of the town. But no sooner had Bacon 
once more set out on the long-deferred Indian 
campaign than Berkeley returned with all 
the followers he could gather, and began to 
fortify the town. 

It was not long, however, before news was 
brought of Bacon's approach. This time he 
had reached the Indian haunts, fought the 
battle of Bloody Run, and won a victory. 
Now he returned to fight for liberty as he 
had fought for safety. And again he was 
victorious, driving the governor and his party 
from the town. By Bacon's orders, every 
building was set on fire, and the whole town 
destroyed. One can hardly see why this 
was necessary, when victory was already 
won without it. 

At last it seemed that the Virginians had 
liberty almost within their grasp. But, as 
so often happens, the unexpected happened, 
and turned the tide of success to failure. 
For just when his followers could spare him 
least, Bacon fell ill and died. And with no 



SEEDS OF LIBERTY i6i 

leader who seemed able to fill his place, the 
liberty seekers of Virginia fell apart, the gov- 
ernor returned, seized his scattered powers, 
and proceeded to revenge himself for the 
humiliations he had borne. 

More than twenty of Bacon's men were 
hanged. We are told that when William 
Drummond, one of Bacon's closest friends, 
was brought before the governor, Berkeley 
showed his cruel triumph in the sneering 
comment, '^Mr. Drummond, you are very 
welcome ! I am more glad to see you than 
any man in Virginia ! Mr. Drummond, you 
shall be hanged in half an hour !" 

The property of many men who had favored 
Bacon was taken from them by the vindictive 
old man, who thus enriched himself while 
making his enemies suffer. 

And so Berkeley had his revenge. But 
he had little comfort in Virginia after these 
days. He was hated for his cruelty, and 
even the king he had thought to please, said 
of him, "The old fool has put to death more 



i62 CAMP AND* TRAIL 

people in that naked country than I did here 
for the death of my father." 

Summoned to England, Berkeley set sail, 
with only hatred and contempt left behind 
him in Virginia. The people fired cannon 
and lighted bonfires to show their joy at his 
departure. 

Perhaps it would seem that Bacon's rebel- 
lion gained little for the liberty seekers of the 
colony. It is true that most of what had been 
gained was speedily lost again. But the 
people of Virginia did not forget that they 
had once dared resist oppression and fight for 
liberty. 

The story I have told you is only one of 
many which all show us how the English- 
speaking people of America loved freedom, and 
hated those who would take away the rights 
that they, as Englishmen, had always claimed. 
These men, and others like them, were sowing 
the seeds of liberty which were to blossom a 
century later into independence and the 
making of a new nation in the New World. 



T 



HE following pages contain advertisements of a 
few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects 



EVERYCHILiyS SERIES 



ANDERSON. Stories of the Golden Age. 

For Intermediate Grades. 
By Mary Gooch Anderson. Cloth, i6mo, 111. 40 cents. 

Stories that every child should know in classical mythology, such 
as that of Prometheus and Pandora and of Minerva and her con- 
quest with Arachne, told in simple readable language in a style 
that is pleasing to children. 

BEMISTER. Indian Legends. For Intermediate Grades. 
By Margaret Bemister. Cloth, i6mo, III. 40 cents. 
In these Indian stories the atmosphere of Indian life is success- 
fully preserved, and the child is given a definite idea of their 
myths, customs, and habits. 

BENDER. Great Opera Stories. For Intermediate Grades. 
By Millicent S. Bender. Cloth, i6mo, III. v + 186 pages. 40 cents. 
Classic tales which form the basis of six of the greatest operas. 

BIRD AND STARLING. Historical Plays for Children. 

For Intermediate Grades. 

By Grace E. Bird, Department of English, State Normal School, 
Plymouth, N. H., and Maude Starling, Supervisor of Training, State 
Normal School, Plymouth, N. H. Cloth, i6mo. 111. xi -f- 292 pages. 
40 cents. 

Plays that are historical in fact and appealing in portrayal and 
that may be used advantageously in the fifth and sixth grades 
for reading, for historical pageant, and festival occasions. 

CALHOUN. When Great Folks Were Little Folks. 

For Intermediate Grades. 

By Dorothy Donnell Calhoun. Cloth, i6mo, HI. xi-f- 174 pages. 
40 cents. 

Stories of the childhood of certain notable men and women told 
to the little folks of to-day. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



EVERYCHILD'S SERIES 



DICKSON. Camp and Trail in Early American History. 

For Intermediate Grades. 
By Marguerite Stockton Dickson. Cloth, i6mo, III. 40 cents. 

A series of biographical stories of exploration and adventure in 
connection with the discovery of America. 

DICKSON. Pioneers and Patriots in American History. 

For Intermediate Grades. 
By Marguerite Stockton Dickson. Cloth, i6mo. 111. 40 cents. 

Stories of distinctive moments of the early days, in the lives of 
men who markedly influenced American history. 

FARMER. Boy and Girl Heroes. For Intermediate Grades. 

By Florence V. Farmer, Vice-Principal Ridge Street School, Newark, 
N. J., author of " Myths of Many Lands," etc. Cloth, i6mo, 111. v + 
137 pages. 40 cents. 

A book of stories of the childhood of historical personages. 

GARDNER. Nature Stories. For Primary Grades. 

By Mary Gardner, of the Duluth, Minn., Public Schools. Cloth, i6mo, 
III. vi + 25s pages. 40 cents. 

Attractive tales for very young readers, treating of the facts and 
phenomena of nature and their myths. 

HALLOCK. In Those Days. For Intermediate Grades. 

By Ella B. Hallock, author of " Some Living Things," " First Lessons 
in Physiolog>'," "Studies in Browning," etc. Cloth, i6mo, 111. ix + 
148 pages. 40 cents. 

Stories for little boys and girls about the time when grandma 
was young. 

OSWELL. A Fairy Book. For Primary Grades. 

By Kate Forrest Oswell, author of "American School Readers," 
and other books. Cloth, i6mo, 111. vii +246 pages. 40 cents. 

A collection of stories about good fairies and other little ''earth 
people " for children to read in school. A cheerful task. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 



EVERYCHILD'S SERIES 



OSWELL. Old Time Tales. For Primary Grades. 

By Kate Forrest Oswell. Cloth, i6mo, 111. viii + 245 pages. 
40 cents. 

A book of folk-lore and fairy stories. 

OSWELL. Stories Grandmother Told. 

For Primary Grades. 

By Kate Forrest Os\toll. Cloth, i6mo, 111. vii + 246 pages. 
40 cents. 

Old fairy stories interestingly told. 

REYNOLDS. How Man Conquered Nature. 

For Intermediate Grades. 
By Minnie J. Reynolds. Cloth, i6mo, 111. v + 249 pages. 40 cents. 
A story of how man overcame Nature by his hand and his brain. 

STOCKTON. Stories of the Spanish Main. 

For Grammar Grades. 

By Frank R. Stockton. Adapted from ' ' Buccaneers and Pirates of 
Our Coast." Cloth, i6mo. 111. vii +232 pages. 40 cents. 

A collection of stirring adventures on land and sea, portraying 
scenes of historical and literary value. 

WARNER. Nonsense Dialogues. For Primary Grades. 
By E. E. K. Warner. Cloth, i6mo. 111. vi + 168 pages. 40 cents. 
Mother Goose in dramatic form for very young readers. 

YOUNG. When We Were Wee. For Intermediate Grades. 

By Martha Young. Cloth, i6mo, HI. vi + 153 pages. 40 cents. 

A story of child life on a Louisiana plantation in Civil War 
times. 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York 







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